


The Detective and The Squad

by allmylovesatonce



Category: Brooklyn Nine-Nine (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-03
Updated: 2017-09-13
Packaged: 2018-10-14 07:23:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 21,260
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10531674
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/allmylovesatonce/pseuds/allmylovesatonce
Summary: Amy Santiago is a brilliant detective, quickly burning out on her job. Jake Peralta is a famous actor recently relocated to NYC for his new TV show "The Squad." What will happen when Amy is assigned to be the police consultant for Jake's new show?





	1. Nice to Meet Cute You

Caffeine was honestly the only thing on Amy’s mind as she single-mindedly walked to her favorite coffee place in Brooklyn. She knew she needed her coffee before heading to the precinct. Her days there had been feeling endless. If it wasn’t for her morning pick-me-up, she didn’t know if she’d make it to lunch some days. She loved her job as a detective, but lately it had been extremely draining.

She turned the corner, heading straight for her friend Terry’s coffee shop called The Nine-Nine. He’d opened it after leaving the force. When his twin daughters had been born, Terry started to lose his edge. He was on desk duty for a while before he ended up deciding to quit being a cop. Before he’d left the force, one of the detectives had purchased an espresso machine for the break room and Terry had spent his time perfecting the art of coffee making. So after he left, he pursued his newfound love of coffee.

Amy had been a big supporter of Terry’s change in career path. She only bought coffee from him. Starbucks be damned. She went there every morning. Usually Terry had her order ready for her by the time she arrived. She was almost to the door when someone stopped her.

“Excuse me,” the man who stopped her said. She looked up at him, startled. Her mind had still been on her coffee.

“Yes?” She responded politely.

“Sorry to bother you, but I’m new in town. I was wondering if you could point me in the direction of a good coffee place,” he explained kindly. Before she could respond, he continued. “And not Starbucks or something like that. Are there any little shops around here?”

Amy smirked. She pointed one storefront behind him. “I usually go there to The Nine-Nine.” He turned around and looked at it and looked back at Amy. “One of my friends owns it, but I’m not biased when I say it’s really good coffee.”

The man nodded at her. “Well thank you for your help!”

Amy shrugged, walking past him. “No problem,” she replied over her shoulder. “And hey,” she added, he was watching her walk away. “Welcome to New York.”

“That’s a Taylor Swift song!” he cheered.

Amy laughed, unsure of how to reply. She walked the few more steps and walked into Terry’s shop. Terry looked up as the bell rang on the door. “Amy! Good morning!” Terry cheered from behind the counter. Amy greeted him back as she walked to her place in line. “This morning’s been kind of a mess, so  your order isn’t ready quite yet,” Terry apologized.

“Terry, no worries!” Amy assured him. “I have plenty of time. You conveniently set up shop two blocks down from the precinct.”

Terry laughed as he worked on someone else’s drink. “You say that like it was a coincidence and not a way to entice my friends to come give me their money,” he laughed with a wink.

The bell rang as the door opened again. Amy saw Terry’s face fill with shock. He gasped loudly, setting the cup he was holding down as his hands started shaking. Amy had no idea what would make Terry have that kind of reaction. She laid her hand on her gun just in case as she turned around to see who’d come in. As it turned out, it was just the guy who’d stopped her on the street. Terry walked over to the pick-up counter and waved Amy over. She looked at him curiously and walked over.

“Amy, do you know who that is?” Terry asked almost reverently.

Amy looked back at the man and then back to Terry. “No?” she said as a statement and question.

“That’s Jake Peralta!” Terry whispered excitedly. Amy showed no awareness at the name. “Seriously? You don’t know who that is?” Amy shook her head. “Damn girl, leave your apartment at some point in your life.” Amy stared at Terry in shock. “I’m sorry, but he’s only one of the biggest actors of our time. He was just in this movie called Death Blade and it was amazing. I saw it 5 times in theaters. Just ask Sharon, I’m obsessed with him.” Amy shook her head at Terry judgmentally. “I wonder why he’s here,” Terry mused.

“Oh that I do know,” Amy said with a smile. “I told him to come in here.”

Terry gasped. “You talked to him?”

Amy nodded. “Yeah, he stopped me on the street and asked me of a good coffee place and I said this place. So you’re welcome.”

“You’ve had a conversation with Jake Peralta?” Terry asked, still stuck on that fact.

Amy shrugged. “Yeah, I guess I have.” She looked back at this Jake Peralta. He was patiently waiting in line. Amy thought he was handsome, but she’d never have pegged him for some big movie star. There were a lot of people in the shop staring at him, but he ignored it, not letting it ruin his morning.

Terry quickly took everyone’s orders and Jake got to the front of the line. Amy watched the interaction from the pick-up counter. She could tell Terry was trying his hardest not to freak out. She was curious to see if he was successful or not. Jake ignored Terry’s jitters apparently and calmly ordered his drink. Terry was almost too quiet as he refused his idol’s money and went to help the staff catch up on the drinks they had to make.

Amy sat down at a table close to the pick-up counter. It didn’t usually take this long for her drink to be made. It was just black coffee with milk after all. She couldn’t blame Terry, though. If she owned a coffee shop and Will Shortz walked in, she’d be pretty star struck too. She was watching the drinks being made behind the bar when she heard the chair across from her scrape the floor as it was pulled out. She looked over and Jake Peralta was sitting down across from her.

“This coffee better be pretty good since you directed me in here,” he joked.

Amy smirked. “Believe me it is,” she assured him. “Though it usually doesn’t take this long.”

“Well that’s probably because you’re the owner’s friend,” he mused.

Amy laughed. “Yeah, I guess it has its perks.”

“So how do you know the owner?” Jake asked.

“We used to work together,” Amy replied. “Until Terry left to open this place.”

Jake nodded, absorbing the information. “What do you do?”

“I’m a detective.”

“Wow, really?” he asked, seemingly intrigued.

“Yep,” Amy answered.

“That’s really cool,” he replied. He stretched his hand across the table. “I’m Jake by the way.”

Amy shook his hand. “Amy.” He watched her for a beat longer than she felt comfortable.

“You don’t know who I am, do you?” he asked, eyeing her for a reaction.

Amy chuckled. “No, not really. Terry freaked out when you walked in and pulled me aside and explained to me who you were, but no, I didn’t. Did I just wound your pride or something?”

Jake laughed, “Not at all. If anything it’s refreshing. People don’t usually treat me like a normal person. I miss that.”

Just then Terry walked over, presenting Jake’s coffee to him. “Mr. Peralta, your coffee, sir,” Terry held it out with both hands, almost bowing to him. Jake accepted it with a thank you and a chuckle.

Amy shook her head at Terry. She looked back at Jake. “So you’re saying you don’t like it when people present you with drinks like you’re a king?”

Jake smirked. “I guess it has its perks,” echoing Amy.  

Terry was standing there staring at Jake. Amy was horrified for Terry. “Hey, uh, Terr-bear,” Amy asked, pulling him from his daze. “Should I call the captain and say I’m going to be late because Terry’s taking too long to make my coffee?”

Terry’s eyes went big like he was remembering Amy’s order. “I’ll go get that now. Sorry, Santiago.”

She looked back at Jake. “You see, _I’m_ usually the one who gets celebrity treatment in here,” she joked.

Jake burst out laughing. “I’m so sorry to take that away from you,” he said before taking a sip of his coffee. “You were right though, this is great coffee.”

Terry ran over to the table to give Amy her coffee. “I’m sorry for the wait. If you are late, just tell Holt it was my fault.”

Amy shook her head. “It’ll be fine. Thanks, Terry,” Amy replied, standing up from her seat. She looked down at Jake. “It was nice meeting you,” she said with a smile, walking out the door.

She was out on the sidewalk, heading toward the precinct when she heard her name. She turned around and saw Jake Peralta chasing after her.

“Yes?” she asked confusedly.

“I don’t want to make you late or anything but I had something I wanted to ask you,” he explained. She nodded for him to continue, checking her watch quickly. She still had some time. “So I’m here in New York to work on this new cop show, The Squad, and we need an actual cop for authentication purposes and training and such. Would you be interested?”

“So is this going to be like Law & Order?” Amy asked skeptically.

“No,” Jake said quickly and defensively. “It will be somewhat different from Law & Order. Or so I’ve been told.” He shook his head, seemingly trying to get back on track. “Anyway, the person they hired quit at the last minute and we need someone.”

“Well you could ask Terry. He was a cop for 20 years. He’d have plenty of information. Plus he’s your biggest fan,” Amy concluded jokingly.

She thought she saw disappointment cross Jake’s face at her suggestion. “Terry?” he asked, looking back toward the coffee shop. “Good idea. Thanks.”

Amy nodded. “Happy to help. Now I should really be going,” she reminded him.

He waved weakly at her. “Nice to meet you, Amy Santiago.”

It was a few hours later at work and she’d almost forgotten all about her crazy run-in this morning. Work was back to being draining. There was no time for thoughts of handsome movie stars she’d met. It wasn’t until she got called into Captain Holt’s office that she remembered.

“Detective Santiago, please have a seat,” Captain Holt instructed, pointing to the chairs in front of his desk. Amy sat down quickly. “I have a new assignment for you,” he elaborated.

Amy perked up. “Ooh, is it undercover?”

“No,” Holt negated. “I was contacted this morning by someone in the production of a television show that is in need of a police consultant. They apparently contacted our old friend Terry Jeffords and he directed them back to us.” Amy could feel dread washing over her. “I am assigning you to this, Santiago.”

“But why, sir?” Amy questioned.

Holt looked at her knowingly. “Santiago, we both know that the last few months have not been easy. You had the drug ring case that went south. You had the kidnapping that ended badly. You’ve had leads disappear. You’ve had cases inexplicably get overturned. It has not been easy to watch. I know this has been hard for you.”

“Sir, I’m fine,” Amy assured him. He stared at her until she caved. “Alright, I’ll admit I’ve felt a bit drained lately, but I don’t need to do this. I can stay here and keep working cases until I get back in the swing of things.”

“Santiago, I can see you getting burned out. It happens to many good cops. And many of these cops don’t have this kind of opportunity. They just burn out until they can’t work anymore or they do something stupid. I don’t want that to happen for you. So consider this a sabbatical. You’ll work this new job, and hopefully it will help you put some of the demons from this job to bed.” He stood up and walked around his desk, sitting down in the chair next to Amy. “You’re a great detective, Santiago. The last thing I’d want is for you to go down the wrong path. So take this opportunity for a mental break. Your job will be waiting for you when you return.”

Amy stared at her captain, trying to process everything he’d said. She couldn’t argue with him too much. He was right; everything had been going to hell for her lately. She worried that part of her never really came back after that kidnapping case had gone wrong. She didn’t know how to not work though. She didn’t know how to be a police consultant or whatever. All she knew was being a detective, and a great one at that.

“There’s no way I can talk you out of this?” She asked hesitantly.

Captain Holt’s face softened. “It’s for the best.”

She nodded. “Thank you, Sir.”

“Take this opportunity to remind you of the best parts of the job. Try to forget the losses,” Holt urged her. He picked a piece of paper up off his desk, handing it to her. “You’ll need to call a Gina Linetti to set up a meeting. They’re expecting your call.”

Amy stared down at the number, trying to adjust to all this change. She walked to her desk and grabbed her purse, walking from the precinct in a daze. For now she was no longer Amy Santiago, Detective. She was Amy Santiago, TV show consultant. She knew what she needed to cope with these feelings. Terry’s Irish coffee. And maybe his advice.


	2. There's No Business Like Show Business

Amy pulled up to the studio where she was supposed to meet with Gina Linetti. She didn’t know what to expect and couldn’t fight the feeling that she should be at work instead. She had to remind herself that this was her work now. Amy found her way around the studio and stopped outside Gina’s office. She gave herself a moment to collect herself. Taking a deep breath, she knocked on the door. She was met rather quickly by a young woman, presumably Gina’s assistant.

“Hi, I’m Amy Santiago,” Amy explained. “I have a meeting with Gina Linetti.”

“Come in,” the young girl said curtly. “Sit here.” She pointed to a couch right inside the door. Amy didn’t want to interact with this girl too much, so she sat down quickly, staring at her feet as she sat there.

Suddenly another door opened and a woman entered dramatically. “Hello there! You must be Amy. I’m of course Gina Linetti. I see you met my assistant, Emily.”

Amy stood up to shake Gina’s hand. Gina motioned for her to sit at one of the chairs in front of her desk.

“So let me catch you up to speed. You will be our police consultant. We had one and she flaked. So if you are unsure about this or think you’ll end up flaking, do us a favor and leave now,” she said bluntly. If Amy hadn’t had a direct order from Holt, she might have considered leaving. As it was, she stayed seated, hoping she looked more confident than she felt. Gina nodded her approval. “Good. Now I’m one of the producers of the show. I run a lot of the behind the scenes magic. If you have any complaints, I’d like you to bring them to me. I may say they’re dumb and dismiss you, but I don’t want you going to anyone else. Okay?” Amy nodded. “Great. Now I’m going to bring in two people in this meeting. And Emily will be taking notes.” Gina stood up and opened the door she walked through, gesturing to whomever was on the other side. Two men entered the room. One of them was Jake.

“Now, Amy, try not to be too star struck. Yes, this is Jake Peralta,” Gina confirmed, rolling her eyes.

“No worries, Gina,” Jake cut in. “We’ve met. And she was thoroughly un-star struck,” Jake added with a smirk. Amy shot him a small smile.

“Oh right! You set this all up,” Gina thought out loud. She gestured to the other man. “This is Doug Judy. He’s our creator and head writer.” Doug Judy stuck out his hand to shake Amy’s. “You’ll be working with both of them quite a lot. You’ll review scripts with Judy to make sure they are accurate enough. And you’ll be working with Jake on set. We’ll ask you to conduct a training for all of our cast so they have proper form and all that. And there will be days you’ll be required on set to check for accuracy there as well. How does that sound?”

Amy nodded quickly. “Good. It sounds good.”

“Good. Now you’re a cop. So will you be able to give us the time that we require from you?” Gina asked.

Amy took a deep breath, thinking of her required sabbatical. “Yes, I can offer you all the time you need,” Amy replied almost begrudgingly.

“Wonderful!” Gina exclaimed. She started sliding Amy papers across her desk. Amy was signing contracts and setting up schedules and everything was happening very quickly. When Amy was finished signing papers, Gina stood up from her desk, Judy and Jake standing on either side of her. She stretched her hand out to Amy, shaking her hand, saying, “Amy Santiago, welcome to The Squad.”

Amy walked out of the studio, releasing a big sigh as she felt the sun on her. She wasn’t standing there too long before she had company.

“So you changed your mind,” Jake said walking up next to her.

Amy turned to look at him. “I’d say I had it changed for me.” Jake looked confused. “You got put in touch with my captain, I’m assuming.” Jake nodded. “He picked me and wouldn’t take no for an answer, so…here I am.”

Jake looked crestfallen. “If you didn’t want to be here, you didn’t have to be. We aren’t forcing you,” he assured her kindly. “I mean, you signed contracts now so I guess we’d _kind of_ be forcing you now but…” he corrected, trailing off.

“My captain thought that I needed some time to myself. Away from the job. He thought this was a good opportunity for me. That’s why I’m here,” Amy informed him. “It should definitely be a change of pace. Who knows? It could be really fun.”

Jake smiled broadly. “Well now you’ve given me my new mission.”

Amy laughed. “Oh goodness.”

“Hey, would you want to go get coffee or something? Celebrate the new gig,” Jake asked. He smirked. “I know a good place now.”

Amy returned his smirk. “I have to go back to work. I have some paperwork I need to finish up before I officially go on sabbatical,” she explained. Jake looked disappointed. “But maybe another time,” she offered.

He nodded at her. “I’m going to hold you to that, Santiago.” She laughed and nodded. “Have fun at work,” he added, walking back toward the studio.

“Hey!” She called after him. He turned around and looked at her questioningly. She walked closer. “Do you have a lot of experience dealing with Gina?”

Jake laughed. “I kinda grew up with Gina. So yeah.”

Amy gaped at him. “You grew up with her?” Jake nodded. “Wow. Okay. So can you give me tips on dealing with her? I just felt really overwhelmed in there.”

“Yeah, I can help you out. Over our coffee!” he reminded her. “Now get going. I’m sure you’d hate to be late for work.”

Amy eyed him skeptically before turning back and heading to her car. “Nice to see you again,” she called without looking back.

“Good to see you too!” she heard him reply.

Amy couldn’t wipe a grin off her face as she got in her car. As much as she hated being away from work, maybe this wouldn’t be the worst job ever. At least most of the people were nice. Maybe soon enough she’d know how to handle Gina. And the TV business in general.

She walked back into the precinct and Charles and Rosa walked toward her. “What’s this about a sabbatical?” Rosa immediately asked.

“Did Captain Holt announce that already?” Amy questioned.

“Yeah, he called Charles and me into his office to explain why our workload might be changing,” Rosa explained.

“So you’re going to be a police consultant for a TV show?” Charles asked, a spark in his eye.

Amy chuckled. “Yes. Apparently it’s a good opportunity for me to get away from all the drama here.”

“So have you met anyone famous yet?” Charles demanded.

“I had a meeting with a producer today. But I did meet the star of the show,” Amy replied vaguely. Charles nodded for her to continue. “I’d never heard of him before. His name is Jake Peralta.”

“Jake Peralta?” Charles screeched. “You met Jake Peralta? You’re working with Jake Peralta?” He yelled his questions, ignoring Rosa and Amy shushing him.

“Yes,” Amy replied hesitantly.

“Oh my God, Amy, I am so jealous of you,” Charles exclaimed. “Do you know how obsessed with him I am? I saw his last movie like three times in theaters! It was amazing!”

“Yeah, Terry apparently saw it a ton of times too,” Amy remembered.

“Umm…yeah, who do you think I saw it with?” Charles asked like it was obvious.

“I will say it was entertaining to see Terry freak out about meeting him,” Amy admitted.

“Terry met Jake Peralta?” Charles screeched again.

“So I met him outside Terry’s coffee shop. He asked if I knew any good coffee places. I sent him to Terry’s. I mentioned that I was a cop. He asked me if I wanted to work on the show. I said no,” Amy explained.

“You said no?” Charles interrupted.

“Yeah. I didn’t want to take time off work. So I told him he should ask Terry. He went back there but apparently Terry redirected him to the precinct and Captain Holt chose me,” Amy concluded with a sigh. “It’s not like this was my idea.”

“But you get to work with Jake Peralta,” Charles reminded her. “How are you not excited about that?”

“Maybe Amy isn’t weirdly obsessed with him,” Rosa stated pointedly. Charles shrugged it off.

“He’s a nice guy but I like my job here,” Amy reasoned.

“He’s a nice guy?” Charles asked. “Oh that’s so great.”

“So you’re going to do it?” Rosa asked, ignoring Charles.

Amy nodded. “I don’t have much of a choice from Holt. Plus I signed my contract with them just now.” She observed their almost disappointed faces. “But don’t worry. I’ll still see you guys.”

“When?” Charles asked. “Won’t you forget about us now that you’ll get to spend time with awesome movie stars?”

Amy shook her head at him with a sigh. “Charles, you’re still my friends. I’d rather spend time with my friends than I would with movie stars.”

“Seriously?” Charles asked. “Well now you just sound crazy.”

Amy and Rosa both rolled their eyes. “I don’t care what you do,” Rosa stated. “I just want to know if I’m going to have to pick up your slack.”

Amy nodded glumly. “It appears so. But I’m sure Holt has a plan. He wouldn’t have sent me off without one.”

“You better be right or I’m gonna be mad at you for deserting us,” Rosa countered.

Amy gasped. “It’s not like this was my idea, Rosa!” She exclaimed.

Rosa’s eyes went wide. “God, it was a joke, Santiago. Calm down. If Holt thinks you need a break, then he’s probably right. So go have fun. Take some time for yourself. It’s what we’d all like to do sometimes anyway.”

Amy shrugged, turning toward her desk. “I’ll start having fun after I finish this paperwork.” Rosa gave her a skeptical look. “Okay, who am I kidding?” Amy started. “I’ll have plenty of fun with this paperwork.”

^^

It was the end of Amy’s first week working on The Squad. She’d had a pretty good week. She was surprised how much she actually enjoyed it. She worked mainly with Doug Judy, reviewing scripts and checking for inaccuracies. Judy was a fun guy. He could be a bit crazy at times, like when he quoted American Tail for seemingly no reason, but he was entertaining to say the least.

Working on a TV show was very different from working at the precinct. She was concerned by how much she enjoyed the change. She loved being a cop. She still felt guilty that she wasn’t working. But she couldn’t help but feel more relaxed working on the show. Holt was right. It was a break. And the fact that Amy wasn’t staring at pictures of crime scenes or hearing about horrendous crimes really helped Amy chill out a bit.

She’d met with the cast earlier in the day to get to know them better before she started training. Training would begin the next week. It helped knowing Jake already. He really was a nice guy. Plus having a familiar face among the stars was always nice. Some of them came up to her and introduced themselves. Others were almost standoffish. She didn’t really know what groups of actors were like in general, but she was finding out.

While there were nice people in the cast, Jake stood out from them. There was just something about him. Maybe he was just _nicer_ than them. Amy couldn’t put her finger on it. But with Jake as her first interaction with a famous actor, he became the bar she measured people by.

Teddy Wells seemed nice enough upon first meeting. He basically just came over to chat with her about being a cop. He said he was excited to play one on TV. She didn’t get too many statements in edgewise with him. He sure had a lot to say. At least he actually spoke to her though, unlike Keith Pembroke. But as Amy saw Pembroke interact with other people, she realized she was really okay with him not talking to her.

At the end of the day, Amy walked off set and pulled out her phone. She decided it was time to tell her parents about her new job. Her mom was very happy for her. She seemed excited at the prospect of visiting her daughter at work and meeting famous people. Amy laughed as she heard her mother’s reaction.

Amy’s father however, was less enthused. He didn’t think Amy should have abandoned her position. No matter how many times Amy tried to explain it to him, he wouldn’t change his answer. She tried to tell him that it wasn’t her choice. She tried to tell him that her cases had been all going wrong lately. She tried to explain to him that this would potentially be something good for her. It fell on deaf ears.

Amy was fighting tears by the time she hung up with her dad. She threw her phone in her purse and groaned loudly, squatting down outside the building. She held her head in her hands, hoping her tears wouldn’t fall. She heard the door open just past her and she looked up, completely startled.

Of course, it was Jake.

“Hey. Are you okay?” he asked, sitting down next to where she was still squatting.

She sighed. “I guess.”

“That sure sounded believable,” he replied sarcastically.

She looked over at him and she could tell the moment he saw the tears in her eyes. His face instantly softened. He picked up his hand before letting it fall back into his lap. “Do you want to talk about it?” he asked kindly.

Amy released a dry laugh. “No.” She sank down out of her squat, sitting down next to him.

He sat there silently with her for a few minutes. “Do you want to _drink_ about it?”

Amy looked over at him. “Actually, that sounds pretty good.”

“Great!” Jake replied happily, jumping up. He stood in front of her and took her hands, pulling her up.

Amy smirked. “Is this the part where you ask me if I know any good bars?”

Jake laughed with her. “Nah, I know the good bars.”

^^

Jake was right. He found a pretty secluded bar in a nice area. If the people recognized him, they were nice enough to treat him like a normal person. At least as far as Amy could tell, that’s how he was treated. She was taking a drink of her beer when she looked over at Jake. He was staring at her expectantly.

“Yes?” she asked.

“So what’s wrong?” Jake replied.

Amy groaned. “What? Did you think I’d just start spilling once I started drinking?”

“Maybe,” Jake admitted sheepishly.

Amy shook her head at him, trying to suppress a grin. She took a deep breath and sighed. “It was my dad.”

“Ohhh,” was all Jake said.

“Yeah, he used to be a cop and was always so proud of me for being a cop,” Amy explained.

“That’s nice.”

“It is, don’t get me wrong. I’ve appreciated that. But when I told my parents all about this new position, he was less than supportive,” Amy elaborated.

Jake grimaced, taking a drink of his beer. “I’m sorry.”

“He said I was abandoning my oath. That police officers don’t run away when the going gets tough. They stay and fight. He said maybe I wasn’t built to be a police officer after all. That was his take on me taking this job,” Amy concluded, rolling her eyes and taking a drink.

“Wow, that’s heavy,” Jake replied.

“I’m coming to realize though, how necessary this break is,” Amy added. Jake furrowed his brow in question. “Work has not been…great, to say the least. This is kinda helping. Taking a break is helping.” She sighed. “I would be the last one to actually admit that, but it’s true. It’s been a week and I can tell a difference.”

“Getting away from doom and gloom?” Jake asked.

Amy laughed sadly, “Yeah, that’s pretty accurate.” She shook her head. “I just don’t get why he can’t see it.”

“Look, I don’t know you super well. And I don’t know what your relationship with your dad is like. But forget him. If you’re happy and you’re feeling better about life or whatever, then isn’t that all that matters?” Jake questioned.

Amy looked at him thoughtfully. “I’ve always lived my life looking for someone’s approval. I pretty much always had my parents’ approval.”

“Nerd,” Jake coughed.

Amy shook her head at him and continued. “I just feel like I’m letting him down.”

“You said your captain made you do this, right?” he asked. Amy nodded. “So you have _his_ approval,” he noted. “And I’ll do you one better than that. Amy Santiago, you have _my_ approval,” he concluded with a big grin.

His grin was contagious. Amy started laughing. “Boom, I’m cured. I feel amazing,” she joked sarcastically through her laughter.

Jake laughed with her, taking a drink from his beer. “See? Laughter is the best medicine.”

Amy scrunched her nose. “Oh that’s so cheesy.” She sat there thinking for a moment. He was silent. “I think you’re right though,” she suddenly added.

“About laughter being the best medicine?” he replied, a confused look on his face.

“Not at all,” she laughed. “I think you’re right that it’s okay for me to prioritize myself right now.”

He lifted up his beer to clink with hers. “Damn straight.”

She met him for the toast. After she took a drink, she set her bottle back down, smiling at Jake. “Thank you. I needed this.”

He nodded, accepting her thanks. “Anytime, Santiago. I’m here to help,” he responded happily.

She couldn’t believe how drastically her life had changed in the span of a week. Last week she’d been pouring over case files, drowning in paperwork. Holt was right; she was burning out. But this week, she was working on a TV show and having casual drinks with a movie star. The contrast was so weird.

 The weirdest part by far was that it didn’t feel weird.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all the love on the first chapter! I hope y'all enjoy this one too!


	3. F is For Friends Who Do Stuff Together

The next Monday, Amy walked into The Nine-Nine for her morning coffee fix. Normally her stop was pretty fast since Terry always knew her order. From the moment she walked in the door, she could tell it would take a bit longer. Rather than seeing Terry behind the counter, scurrying back and forth making drinks, she saw Terry standing at the counter star struck by Jake Peralta. Amy could hear Terry laughing like a lovesick school girl. She rolled her eyes with a grin and walked toward the counter.

“Wow, that’s a great story!” Terry exclaimed. He looked just past Jake and saw Amy. “Hey, Amy! What will you have?”

Amy didn’t want to feel entitled, but she felt a bit taken aback. “Umm…my usual?” She heard someone clear their throat and so she looked over to see Sharon walking behind the counter.

“Remind me what your usual is,” Sharon urged. “He’s gonna be distracted for a while. Or at least he will be if he follows the pattern.”

“The pattern?” Amy asked.

Sharon laughed. “Oh yeah. Peralta has been coming in almost every day for a week or so now. And Terry _always_ has to take the time to chat with him. After three days I had to make sure Terry stopped offering him free drinks.”

Amy laughed. “Of course he was. You should have seen Boyle’s reaction when I told him that I just _met_ Jake. He went crazy.”

“Well who do you think saw his movie with Terry so many times?” Sharon asked with a laugh. “I would only see it with him once. I think he went at least two more times with Charles.”

The two women laughed at the ridiculousness of the men they knew. Sharon turned around to make Amy’s coffee and Amy walked closer to Terry and Jake. Amy put on her best fake, deep voice and stepped right behind Jake. “Hey, Hollywood, you’re driving away the regulars!” she yelled. Jake jumped and turned around. He looked shocked until he realized it was Amy.

“Ha, ha,” he said sarcastically. “I’m merely forming a friendship with a small business owner. I’m helping the business, you could say,” Jake reasoned.

“Not if you aren’t paying.”

Jake scoffed. “Hey! I offered to pay every time!” he defended. Amy laughed. “I am nothing if not an upstanding citizen, Ma’am.”

Amy rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah.” Sharon brought Amy her coffee. After Amy paid, she turned back to see Jake. “Don’t you think you should be heading out soon?”

He looked at her, completely confused. “Why? I don’t work today. Your training doesn’t start until tomorrow.”

She snorted. “Yes, but we’re meeting with Judy today.”

“What?” Jake asked, stunned. He pulled out his phone and clicked around on it. Amy and Terry stood there watching him. Sure enough, he released a small “huh.” Jake looked up at Amy. “I guess you’re right. Judy emailed me at 10:30 last night. I was already in bed so I didn’t see it.”

“You weren’t out picking up chicks?” Amy asked jokingly. Jake rolled his eyes at her. “Whatever,” she said. “We should leave or we’re gonna be late.”

Jake nodded obligingly in Amy’s direction. He turned back to Terry, shaking his hand. “Talk again soon, my man?”

Terry’s smile was uncontainable. “I sure hope so!” he exclaimed, shaking Jake’s hand hard.

“See ya, Sharon!” Amy called. “Bye Terry.” She walked out the door towards her car.

“Amy!” She heard Jake call to her. She turned around to see Jake rushing towards her. “Are you driving to the studio?”

“That was the plan.”

“I took the train here. I’ll never get there in time. Could I…”

Amy rolled her eyes. “Get in.”

Jake smiled hugely at her. “Thank you, thank you, thank you! Judy is surprisingly strict on punctuality.”

^^

They walked into Judy’s office and he stood up to greet them. “Well if it isn’t my two favorite people.”

“Awww!” Amy replied. “Wait, is someone else behind us?” She turned around but it was only her and Jake.

Judy shook his head humoredly at Amy. He walked around his desk and performed and intricate handshake with Jake. “Hold up, did y’all arrive together?”

Jake and Amy looked at each other nervously. “Yeah,” they said in unison.

“Oh,” he said before leaning in closer to them. “Are you guys doin’ it?”

Jake opened his mouth but Amy beat him to it. “Eww. God, no.”

Jake looked over at Amy, his face displaying his offense. “Seriously? _That’s_ your response? Eww? Wow that hurts.”

“You know what I mean,” Amy answered before trying to change the topic.

“No, please explain,” he pressed.

Amy glared at him for a moment. “We’re friends or whatever. I mean are we even considered friends at this point?”

Jake looked at her with a wounded stare. “Now you don’t even think we’re friends? Of course we’re friends, Santiago.”

Amy shrugged, feeling uncomfortable with the situation. “Great, so we’re friends.”

She looked over at Judy and saw him smiling, looking back and forth between Amy and Jake.

“Can we please get to work?” Amy asked hesitantly.

Jake nodded. “Of course we can. Just three friends…working together,” he replied with a smile as he pulled out a chair for Amy to sit in.

^^

Friday morning, Amy was finishing up her first week of conducting training. From there she’d just do spot checks as necessary. They still wanted her to be on set for corrections and accuracy. She felt pretty confident in how the training had gone. Jake, of course, had wanted to goof around some, but she made sure he had that out of his system by the end of Tuesday.

“Hey, Amy!” Jake called. She looked over at him from where she was taking notes. “Is this how you hold a gun?” he asked with a laugh. He was holding it upside down. Amy glared at him. He walked closer to her. “I was thinking of calling this Upsy-Downsy.”

Amy took the gun from Jake’s hands, thankful it was fake. “Jake, you look ridiculous. The lead of the show can’t look _that_ stupid.”

“Stupid? I think it’s revolutionary.”

Amy wrinkled her nose at him. “I don’t think you know what that word means.” Jake laughed and grabbed a donut off the table next to her.

“We’ll see what the director thinks when I drop it into an episode,” Jake taunted.

Amy looked at him with a disbelieving expression. “They’ll turn to me and say ‘Is that right?’ And I’ll say, ‘No, he’s an idiot.’ And they’ll believe me because that’s what you’ll look like,” Amy retorted with a smug grin.

Jake squinted his eyes at her and shook his head. He moved to walk away from her but he turned back and blew the powdered sugar on his hands at her. Amy screamed dramatically and waved her hands in front of her face. She looked down at her blouse and then glared at him. “It’s everywhere,” she whispered in horror.

Jake laughed heartily before adopting a guilty grin. He reached over to the table and grabbed another donut. “Back up,” he said quietly. He turned and walked back toward the other cast members.

As horrified as Amy was, she couldn’t help but smile. Jake could be ridiculous, but he was still fun to be around. She enjoyed the easiness of their friendship. When she spent time with him, it didn’t feel like she was spending time with a famous movie star. It felt just like spending time with her friends from work who were normal people. He was really down to earth and so kind to her. She didn’t know why he treated her the way that he did, but she suspected it was just Jake being Jake. He was just a good guy who for some crazy reason really wanted to spend time with her. She didn’t totally understand why he wanted to spend so much time with her. But in the two weeks she’d known him, they’d hung out multiple times. Maybe he just didn’t know anyone else. She couldn’t be _that_ captivating of company.

Amy was caught up in her head when Teddy Wells approached her. “Hey, Amy!” He greeted.

She looked up at him in surprise. “Oh, hey, Teddy,” she replied.

He was grabbing some fruit from the food table but Amy wasn’t paying him much attention. “So I couldn’t help but notice that you seem really friendly with Peralta,” he prodded.

Amy looked back at him curiously. “Oh?”

“I mean you talk to him the most out of all of us. You joke around with him a lot when you’re here,” he explained.

Amy shrugged. “Yeah, we’re friends.”

“Were you before?”

“What?” Amy asked, confused by his line of questioning.

“Were you and Peralta friends before you got hired for this show?”

“Uhh…no.” Teddy nodded his head slowly like he was absorbing information. “Why would that matter?” Amy questioned.

“Oh nothing. I just know Peralta’s angle,” he replied vaguely.

“What does that mean?”

“He was the one who recruited you for the show right?” Amy nodded. “And now he’s really nice to you?” Amy nodded again. “That’s his deal. He woos people with his nice guy charm. And then once he gets what he wants, he shows his true colors. He’s nice to you now, but once he’s gotten what he wants from you either professionally or personally, he’ll drop you like a hot rock.”

Amy was offended. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“He’s an actor,” Teddy reasoned. “What did you think was gonna happen? You’d become lifelong friends?”

“You realize that _you’re_ an actor. So all the douchey things you’re saying about Jake also apply to you,” Amy snapped.

Teddy shrugged. “I never said I was perfect.” He stepped closer to Amy but she took a step back. “Look, I’m just trying to help you out. I can tell that you feel close to him. Take it from a friend,” he said, motioning to himself, “just watch out for Peralta. He’s not what you think he is.” Teddy looked at Amy knowingly and then walked back toward the cast with a pat on her shoulder in parting.

Amy stared at him as he walked away. He couldn’t be right. Jake seemed like an actual good person, not just the type of guy to be nice to get what he wanted. The more she thought about it, though, she didn’t really know Jake _that_ well. They’d talk about her a lot, but not necessarily about him. Maybe Amy should try to talk less about herself.

Amy tried her best to focus on training and not the things Teddy had said to her as she went through the day. She couldn’t help it though; it kept popping up in her mind. Every time she looked at Jake, she wondered if he really was tricking her with his niceness. She hoped after years on the force, she was a better judge of character than that.

The end of the day rolled around and Jake waltzed up to Amy as she expected he would. “Great training, Ames,” he said happily. “I feel like I really know a lot about being a cop.” Amy laughed. “I don’t know anything about it, do I?” Jake asked at the sight of her laughing.

“You know the mechanics and that’s about it,” Amy said with a sad smile.

“Dang it,” Jake muttered. He looked back up at Amy. “So how do you feel about a drink? Maybe to celebrate a successful week of training?”

Amy took a deep breath. She looked just past Jake at Teddy. He was talking to another crew member. She couldn’t stop thinking about what he’d said. Looking back at Jake, she decided to trust her gut. What did Teddy know? Amy nodded happily. “Sure! Sounds good,” she remarked, putting her things in her bag, and turning toward the door.

“Great!” Jake exclaimed.

They walked to the door and Amy looked back at Teddy again. This time he was looking back at her. He gave her a warning shake of his head. Amy turned back toward the door as Jake held it open for her. She closed her eyes and shook her head as she walked out into the night with Jake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First, I'd like to apologize for taking over a month to update this. My life became very crazy after I last updated this and then I also lost inspiration for this one a bit. So if you liked it, please tell me! That keeps the inspiration flowing! 
> 
> Also, just to share my thought process with you. I plan on having Teddy be a block to Jake and Amy's relationship though not necessarily in the same way it was in the show! I liked the idea of him still holding Amy back from Jake in a way, but not by dating her. 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed it! Please let me know how you felt! Thank you for all the comments and kudos so far! Hopefully it won't take me as long to get the next chapter posted!


	4. A Dinner Party of Sorts

They’d completed shooting the pilot and were having a party to celebrate. Amy had not expected to have a party in the middle of the day. She stood at a tall table off to the side of the crowd. For shooting one episode, they really were having quite the party. Amy took a sip of her water when she spotted Jake walking toward her.

“Why are you not drinking?” he asked, motioning to her water glass.

“I didn’t realize there was going to be a party in the middle of the day,” Amy remarked. “I kind of have plans later.”

“So you can’t have _one_ drink?”

“I’m having a dinner party later and I’m not the strongest cook even sober,” she explained.

Jake chuckled. “Why are you having a dinner party if you aren’t a good cook?”

“I haven’t seen my friends in weeks and so I wanted to get together with them,” she answered. “Problem is, the only way I could get them to agree was if I offered free food, so…”

He laughed. “I like your friends. We seem to have similar motivations.”

“So I’m going to attempt to cook for them,” Amy continued with a groan.

“I could help,” Jake offered. Amy eyed him skeptically. “Yes, I know it’s a shocker, but I do actually know how to cook. My grandma taught me.”

“Awww,” Amy teased. “How sweet.” Jake rolled his eyes and took a drink from his beer. “But why would you want to help me?”

“I can’t just offer to be nice?” He asked. “Maybe I want to meet your friends. I mean you’re friends with Terry and I like Terry.”

“I guess that’s true,” she thought out loud. “If you actually want to do this though, I’ll warn you, my other friends may not be as chill as Terry and I are.”

“Well you’re only chill because you didn’t even know who I was,” Jake reminded her.

“Hey! You said you loved that,” Amy exclaimed.

Jake laughed heartily. “Oh I do, don’t doubt it.”

“Fine,” Amy sighed. “I guess you can come.”

Jake pumped his fist in the air. “Yeah! This should be fun!”

Amy shook her head at him disbelievingly. “I mean I get why _I_ think it’s going to be fun. They’re my friends. I don’t really get why _you_ think it’s gonna be so much fun.”

“What?” Jake shrugged. “Meeting new people is fun. You’re cool, so I assume your friends will be too.”

Amy smirked. “Okay, well now you have to come. You just called me cool and my friends won’t believe me if I can’t have you there to back up my statement.”   

They stayed for maybe another 20 minutes before leaving to go prep for Amy’s dinner party, well now Amy and Jake’s dinner party.

^^

“You can’t mess up stirring, Amy,” Jake teased. “Just stir while I check on the bread.”

“Fine, but if this is messed up, I’m blaming you,” Amy retorted.

Jake laughed, bending down to look in the oven. “Move!” He called and she jumped from her post. “Bread coming in hot, bread coming in hot!” he repeated as he took it from the oven.

“Oh my God that smells so good,” Amy said, sniffing the air.

Jake smirked. “It’s the lack of char.”

“Hey! I might not have burned it! You’re just being rude,” Amy yelled defensively. “Also, if my friends ask, I’m telling them I cooked everything.”

Jake gasped dramatically. “Seriously? And you think _I’m_ rude?”

Amy grinned smugly. “We’ve got like five minutes till they’re here.” They used those five minutes to put the finishing touches on their whole meal. The bread was cut and put on a plate on the table. The pasta was perfectly tender and the sauce, as Amy tried it, was delicious. She couldn’t believe she’d actually pulled it off. Well, that _they’d_ pulled it off. Jake was actually a much better cook than she’d expected. Amy had put the last dish on the table when there was a knock at the door. Jake stayed by the table as Amy went to open the door.

“Hello!” Amy greeted her guests. One by one, Rosa, Charles, Terry, and Sharon filed across the threshold. Amy was closing the door when she heard Charles scream. She wheeled around to figure out what had happened.

Jake was standing there with a stunned look on his face. Rosa was rolling her eyes. “You’re…you’re…oh my God, you’re…” Charles stuttered, completely flustered by his idol’s appearance.

“Jake Peralta,” Jake introduced, sticking out his hand. Charles walked past Jake’s hand and wrapped Jake in a hug. Jake hugged him back, patting him lightly. He looked at Amy. “Oh, a hugger,” he remarked.

Breaking away from the hug, Charles spoke more fluently. “Mr. Peralta, I love your work so much. Your movie, Death Blade, was _amazing_. Just utterly amazing. Terry and I saw it a number of times in the theater.”

Jake nodded and laughed. “Yes, so I heard from Terry!” Jake reached out and shook Terry’s hand. “Great to see you, Man!”

“Wait, you know Terry?” Charles asked, a look of jealousy in his eye.

“Yeah, Jake here, comes to our little coffee shop just about every day,” Sharon confirmed, shrugging off her jacket.

“So, _Jake_ ,” Rosa said, pointedly enunciating his name, “What brings you to our little friend get together?”

“Uh, well…” he started, flustered by Rosa.

“I invited him,” Amy lied. She looked over at Jake and nodded with a smile. “I was having a dinner party for my work friends and Jake is now one of my work friends.” Jake smiled at Amy happily. “So, why don’t we eat before it gets cold?” Rosa nodded suspiciously as she sat at the table.

The dinner overall went pretty well. Jake asked them about a million cop stories. He seemed so interested in each one they told. It made Amy start to miss the precinct. Sitting around sharing stories about the stupid things perps did was always a fun, light past time. It was certainly lighter than the stories that had driven Amy to her new job. Amy laughed quietly to herself when she saw Charles staring at Jake with an almost enamored look. Soon enough, they’d finished dinner and they were just sitting there chatting and drinking wine.

“Who’s the coolest celebrity you’ve met?” Charles asked Jake.

“Hmmm…” Jake replied thoughtfully. “That’s hard.”

“Have you ever met Nancy Meyers?” Rosa asked nonchalantly.

Jake shook his head. “No, but I have met Diane Keaton. She was in a Nancy Meyers movie.”

“Something’s Gotta Give,” Rosa confirmed. “Great movie.”

Amy shook her head in laughter at Rosa. Always one for surprises. Jake kept trying to answer Charles’s question. “I guess the _coolest_ person I’d say I’ve met would have to be…” he trailed off, apparently still deciding. “Harrison Ford.”

“You’ve met Harrison Ford?” Amy, Charles, and Terry all asked in unison. Jake laughed at their reaction.

Rosa shook her head at them. “Nerds.”

“I did. I went to this charity event back in LA and he was there,” Jake explained. “I’m sure I didn’t leave him with a great impression. I was _freaking_ out. Like a lot. I mean, he’s Han Solo!”

“Um, _and_ Indiana Jones,” Amy reminded him. Jake pointed at her and nodded, agreeing with her.

“God, I’d freak out hard if I met Harrison Ford. I can picture it,” Charles mused.

“Yeah, we all can picture it, Charles,” Rosa commented, “considering it’s what you did when you walked into the apartment mere hours ago.” Charles glared at Rosa.

“Don’t feel bad,” Jake said reassuringly, patting Charles on the shoulder. “I was very flattered.”

“You looked terrified,” Sharon added.

“Terrified and flattered are very close emotions,” Jake lied, clearly trying to cover for Charles. No one was letting him off the hook.

“You must not be a very good actor if you think that’s true,” Rosa replied bluntly.

“You’re really fun, Rosa,” Jake said through a laugh. Rosa grinned smugly.

“Well, as fun as this was,” Sharon said, standing up from the table, “we should be going. The babysitter needs to get home.” Terry stood up to mirror Sharon.

“Oh, thank you guys for coming,” Amy commented, standing up to see them out. She hugged them both. “It was so great to see you guys.” Everyone stood to say goodbye to Terry and Sharon.

When they left, Charles and Rosa made a comment that they should leave too. Charles was still talking to Jake when Rosa shrugged on her jacket near Amy. “So I gotta ask,” she said quietly, “what’s the deal with you two?”

Amy looked at Rosa with a confused look on her face. “What do you mean?”

“You and Jake,” Rosa clarified. “There’s something there.”

Amy laughed. “There’s nothing there.”

Rosa stared at her knowingly. “Don’t be dumb. Have you _seen_ the way that guy looks at you?” Rosa watched as Amy thought through things. “Maybe you haven’t noticed, but there’s something there.”

“I’m a detective, Rosa, don’t you think I’d notice?”

Rosa shook her head. “Nah, I think you’d deny it. But then again, you can’t see the way _you_ look at him. It’s basically the same way.”

“Wow,” Amy retorted, unable to come up with a better response.

“I wouldn’t rule it out if I were you,” Rosa said, stepping closer to Amy. “Dude seems pretty keen on you. And pretty down to earth.”

“I mean he’s a nice guy,” Amy agreed. “But we’re just friends.”

“For now,” Rosa said with a smirk. “Hey, Charles,” she called, “Let’s go.”

“Oh, sorry, she’s my ride,” Amy could hear Charles explaining. “Thanks for everything, Amy. It was so great to meet you, Jake!”

Amy bid her friends goodbye and closed the door behind them. “Ummm, I _love_ your friends,” Jake exclaimed. Amy laughed. “They’re really fun. I mean, Rosa’s terrifying, but still fun.”

“Yeah, she’s always kind of been that way,” Amy agreed, moving dishes from the table to the kitchen. Jake picked some up too. “You don’t have to help clean up. I’m sure you have better things to be doing.”

Jake scoffed. “Please, I helped make the mess. I’ll help clean it up.”

“Aww, someone’s mom taught them well,” Amy mused.

They rinsed all the dishes and put them in the dishwasher, moving efficiently. The whole time they’d chatted and cleaned, Amy’d been fighting Rosa’s words as they floated around in her head. There was nothing between them. Surely.

After they had all the dishes in the dishwasher, they sat back down at the table, more wine in their glasses. “Okay,” Amy said, interrupting the silence that had fallen between them. “I gotta ask. It’s been on my mind for a while.” Jake nodded, urging her to continue. “How are you the way you are?” she asked, not exactly gracefully.

“I’m sorry?”

She shook her head. “I mean, you’re really down to earth. I’d expect someone who’s been caught up in all the Hollywood of it all would be a bit more…”

“Snooty?” Jake asked. Amy chuckled and nodded. “I kinda made it my mission not to be,” he explained.

“Why’s that?” Amy wondered aloud.

“It’s a long story,” Jake commented evasively.

Amy took a sip from her wine. “I’m all ears.”

Jake grinned at her, taking a sip of his wine as well. He sat back in his chair some. “Well, it all started when I was a kid. I grew up in Northern California. Gina and I grew up together. And my dad left when I was a kid.” Amy wore a sad expression. “It’s okay. I’ve gotten over it for the most part. But anyway, I relied on my mom and Gina’s mom and my grandma to do basically everything for me until one day I figured out things were easier when I did them myself. And then when I was in high school, I realized I had a flair for the dramatics,” he narrated.

Amy smirked. “Oh, you don’t say?”

Jake laughed. “Yeah, I was pretty good, I guess. So anyway, I went to this acting competition with my school and this director for this college came up to me after one of our productions and told me that he wanted me to come study under him. It was this tiny little college close to LA. It was my senior year of high school, so I went for it. Gina of course came with me. She started doing just about anything she could do that was adjacent to acting. She did choreography, she did makeup, lighting, lots of different things. She was sort of the jack of all trades. It was a small college and I was kind of a big deal, so when I got out of college, I expected all these big opportunities to come my way. And they didn’t.”

“So what did you do?” Amy asked, genuinely intrigued.

“So I actually became a barista at a little coffee shop in LA. And then I would also go to auditions and such when I could. For years, I only did little commercials or a very unpublicized play. And it was disappointing, but I was fine with it. And then one day, about three weeks after I’d finished this crappy little play, some guy comes up to me at the coffee shop. He said that he recognized me because he’d seen the play I was just in. He said he had a movie coming up that he thought I’d be perfect for and would I like to come meet with him. So since I’m not an idiot, I met with him. And it was the person directing Death Blade.”

Amy stared at him in awe. “Wow.”

“So I auditioned and I got it. It was incredible. And from then on I promised myself that I wouldn’t get a big head about things. I came from a rough childhood and a small college and I managed to make my big break. But I didn’t want to feel like I did when I moved to LA. I didn’t ever want to feel beaten down again. And somehow keeping that in mind has helped me stay down to earth, I guess,” he finished, taking a drink from his glass.

“That’s a pretty good story,” Amy remarked.

“Nah, it was just pure luck,” he replied. “I’ve done a couple movies since Death Blade came out and I’ve managed to land some pretty cool jobs in the last few years, but I’ve always made myself promise that I’d stay the same guy that I was before I became famous. As hard as life was when I was just a barista, I was more myself then than I would be if I really embraced the celebrity status. I mean honestly, spending the evening just chatting with your friends is more fun to me than going to some club with a bunch of famous people and the paparazzi.”

Amy nodded approvingly. “Hmm,” she said simply. “That makes a lot of sense.” She reached out and patted his hand lightly. “Thank you, now I feel like I know you better.” Jake smiled brightly. “I gotta know though, how did Gina become a producer?”

Jake laughed. “She tagged along on all my adventures, basically demanding I let her play some part behind the scenes or not in whatever I’ve done. So when Judy flew me out here to read for Duncan Buck, I brought Gina with me to see what she could do. Judy was the one who figured out she’d be good as a producer.”

Amy laughed. “I mean she is. Although, she’s terrifying.”

“I’d say you just have to know her, but she’s always been a bit terrifying,” Jake added with a laugh.

“So since you were a barista, is that why you hate Starbucks?” Amy asked, quirking a small smile.

“Ah, you caught me,” Jake laughed. “Yeah, I worked in a small coffee shop and was not a fan of the big chains. That was why I asked you about small places. And honestly, Terry’s kinda reminds me of the place I used to work.”

“Okay, next question,” Amy probed. “Why do a show?”

“You mean if I was making it big in movies, why suddenly downgrade to TV?” he asked elaborately.

Amy blinked a few times. “Uh, yes.”

“I’ve been asked that a bunch,” he explained. “I wanted to do projects with good stories. I liked the Death Blade script so I did it. I did this movie called “Barcelona” about a rag tag group of amateur dancers that travel around the world and fall in love and it was really fun. I don’t know why, but it spoke to me. It comes out next summer, by the way. And then I did this other action movie that I believe has changed titles like 8 times and hasn’t been released yet, but I liked it so I agreed to it. And I knew Judy from LA before he relocated and he’s a great guy. So when he asked me to read his pilot, I did. And when he asked me if I wanted to play the lead role, it took me maybe five minutes to decide I wanted to,” Jake explained at length. “And that was mainly because my mom called to tell me something about the lesbians that live across the street from her.” Amy laughed. “But you know, if a good movie was thrown my way, I’d do that too.”

“You’d quit the show?” Amy asked. “That’s awfully flighty of you.”

Jake shook his head. “No, of course not,” he replied. “But provided it gets picked up and things go well, there’s always a hiatus.”

Amy nodded her head thoughtfully. “Hmm,” she commented. “Well thank you for divulging your life story. Can I have the rights to write your biography?”

Jake snickered. “I’d trust no one else with the rights,” he said dramatically.

Amy laughed before she finished her wine. She stood up to go put her glass in the sink. Jake stood up and followed her into the kitchen, finishing his as well. They stood next to each other at the counter. “This was fun,” Amy remarked.

Jake nodded. “I agree,” he said looking at her, “it really was.” He smiled. “I don’t know what it is about you, Santiago, but I always seem to have a good time with you.”

“I think it was my friends,” Amy deflected.

“Nah, I think it’s just you,” he assured her.

Amy couldn’t help but blush. She felt herself smiling. She looked up and realized how close she was standing to Jake. That was when she noticed it, the way he was looking at her. Rosa’s words started echoing through her head.   _Don’t be dumb. Have you seen the way that guy looks at you?_ _Maybe you haven’t noticed, but there’s something there._ Amy noticed Jake starting to lean in. What would happen if he kissed her? Amy quickly shook her head and took a step back. She cleared her throat and turned toward the sink, rinsing out their wine glasses. Jake cleared his throat as well. Maybe she’d just imagined it.

“Well, I should probably get going,” Jake finally said. “I don’t want to be the guest that overstays his welcome.”

Amy turned back toward him after she turned off the water. “Thanks for your help tonight, Jake.”

Jake smiled. “Not a problem,” he replied with a nod of his head. “It was my pleasure.” He started walking toward the door. “So I’ll see you at work?”

“Or at The Nine-Nine,” Amy offered. “Maybe we’ll need our caffeine fix at the same time.” Jake smiled. “Of course, you could be caught up in talking to Terry that you might not even notice I was there.”

Jake laughed. “What can I say? He’s a compelling man,” Jake offered.

“I mean he’s my friend,” Amy agreed. “I guess I can’t argue there.”

Jake was still laughing. Amy was relieved that there was no residual weird energy from the kitchen. “I’ll see you later, Santiago.”

“Bye, Jake,” Amy said with a wave as he walked out of her apartment. She closed the door and leaned against it. “Holy crap,” she breathed. “This can’t be happening.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to update this one too before I went on vacation! I hope y'all enjoyed it!


	5. Glitz and Glamour

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for the crazy long time between chapters! I really hope I don't do that again!

It was a Friday evening and Amy was in her coziest pajamas with her hair in a bun, ready for a night all to herself. She closed the curtains in her living room, as if someone could see the secret shame she was about to allow. Turning on the television, she queued up the movie she was going to watch that evening. It had been one she’d put off watching no matter how amazing Terry and Charles insisted it was. Amy thought it would be weird to watch Jake in a movie since she knew him in real life. She’d watched him act for the show, but she saw it happening live and after enough takes, it got boring.

Death Blade had been playing for 15 minutes when a knock at the door signaled Amy’s Chinese delivery. Amy happily jumped off the couch, not even bothering to pause the movie. She pulled open the door, her wallet in hand but it wasn’t the delivery man standing at her door.

“Jake?” Amy asked, shock coloring her voice.

“Hey!” He replied cheerfully.

“You’re not my Chinese delivery…” she said absentmindedly.

He smirked. “No, I guess I’m not.”

Amy shook her head, trying to wrap her head around seeing Jake at her door. “Why are you here?”

“Well, it’s a funny story,” Jake started with a smirk. “I was nearby and I –” he paused, a strange look on his face like he was straining to hear something. In the silence, Amy could hear Jake’s voice in the background, coming from her TV. Awareness dawned on Jake’s face, followed by a huge grin. “Wait a minute! Are you…” he cut himself off, walking past her into her apartment, stopping once he saw himself on the TV. Amy stood there waiting for his inevitable teasing. “You’re watching Death Blade!”

Amy shrugged, wondering if she could lie her way out of it. “It’s just a commercial…” she lied quietly.

“No it’s not,” Jake denied. “My mother sent me a video of _every_ commercial she saw because she was so proud of me and they never used this part. It’s too boring for an action movie.” He turned to her with a broad smile and his index finger pointing at her. “You’re watching my movie.”

Amy felt flustered. “Okay, so I was. One, I didn’t expect you to see me watching it. And two, if Terry or Charles told me one more time how amazing it was and what a crime it was that I hadn’t watched it, I was going to scream,” Amy defended.

Jake’s smile remained on his face. “I’m so touched, Santiago.”

“Shut up,” Amy scoffed, finally pausing the movie. “What are you even doing here?” Amy questioned, suddenly realizing Jake was in a suit. She’d been so flustered that he was there, she hadn’t even processed that he looked fancier than usual. “And why do you look _nice_?”

“Well I’m hurt at the implication that I don’t always look nice,” Jake said, feigning hurt. “But I actually am here for a favor…” Amy stared at him skeptically. “So my publicist called me this evening and said there was some event I had to go to since I’d basically been a ghost since I moved to New York.” He paused to read her expression. “And it’s in a couple of hours and I really didn’t want to go alone, so I thought I’d ask you.”

“Me?” Amy asked, wondering to herself if he’d gone insane. She gave her pajamas a cursory glance before looking back at him. “Why don’t you take someone else? Why don’t you take Gina?”

Jake grimaced. “I’ve actually been requested never to bring Gina to things anymore. She doesn’t make the best impression with celebrities. Or with the people who organize the things celebrities go to. My publicist said it was probably just best I don’t take her to things anymore…”

Amy rolled her eyes but grinned in spite of herself. From what she knew of Gina, it matched up. “So you really expect me to agree to go to some event in a couple of hours where I’ll likely meet a bunch of celebrities?”

“I was hoping you’d agree. I mean you never cared about meeting me. And you don’t really seem fazed by anyone on set,” Jake explained, reasoning his way through his argument.

Amy sighed. “You realize you’re asking quite a lot.” Jake nodded, a hesitant look on his face. Huffing, and turning back toward her bedroom, she said, “Fine.”

“Really?” Jake asked excitedly.

“Yes,” she echoed hesitantly down the hall. “But you’re paying for my Chinese when it gets here.”

“Deal!” Jake called back to her.

Amy had no idea what she would wear to a party with a bunch of actors. Jake looked nice. Should she wear something fancy? She looked through her dresses, wondering if any of them measured up. Deciding to stall on her clothes, she wandered into her bathroom to fuss with her hair and makeup. Taking her hair out of the bun, it fell down her shoulders in long curls. Amy said a silent prayer that it just looked effortlessly good. She looked in the mirror for a long time, wondering the best approach to take with her makeup. Amy was never one to really overdo her makeup. She usually went for a more natural looking approach. Going with what she was comfortable with, she redid her makeup.

Amy lost track of how long it took her to feel like her look was finalized. But eventually she walked back down the hall towards Jake, wearing a deep blue cocktail dress (that inadvertently made her boobs look really good) and a pair of heels. She was brushing her cascading curls behind her shoulders as she entered the room. Jake stood up and looked at her. “So? How do I look?” Jake just stared at her for a beat. “Will I fit in?”

He shook his head quickly, seemingly more to himself. “Uh, yeah, yeah of course you will. You look…uh…you look great.”

Amy felt a familiar blush creep up her cheeks as a smile formed on her face. “Thanks.”

“Uh, your Chinese is over on your kitchen counter,” Jake informed her. “We have time if you want to eat…” he offered. “Although I’m pretty sure they’ll have food and an open bar there.”

Amy walked over and stowed her delivery in the fridge. “It’ll just be my lunch tomorrow.”

“Then are you ready?” Jake asked, buttoning his jacket and extending his arm.

Amy picked up her clutch and took his arm. “Ready.” For what though, Amy didn’t know. Going to a celebrity type party would be a very different from anything she’d ever done. She could say that about a lot of things she’d done since she met Jake.

They arrived at a fancy building in Manhattan. Before Amy was even inside, she felt out of her element. There were paparazzi standing at the bottom of the stairs, snapping pictures wildly as Jake and Amy approached. Jake smiled politely, but Amy knew it wasn’t his real smile. She felt uncomfortable walking past all the cameras but then Jake laid his hand on her back and guided her up the stairs and away from the prying eyes. Amy wouldn’t have said she had feelings of any kind for Jake, but she felt incredibly comforted knowing he was there with her and looking after her.

Her nerves died down some as they walked into the room where the rest of the party was happening. Amy didn’t immediately see anyone she recognized so they didn’t make her feel awkward. Jake greeted some people he knew as Amy stood by observing. She was too busy taking in her surroundings to really hold a conversation. Soon Jake was steering her further into the hall and away from the door. A man was walking around with a tray of champagne so Jake snagged two glasses from him. “M’Lady,” Jake said with a grin as he gave a glass to Amy. She smirked and took the glass from him.

“Thanks,” she replied before taking a sip. Looking around, she commented, “This is quite a fancy event.”

Jake shrugged. “Eh, it’s okay.”

“What? But it’s not the Oscars?” Amy joked.

Jake smirked. “I wouldn’t know. Although I have been to the Oscars after party and that was pretty nice.”

“Oh do tell.”

“I mean I wasn’t going to go and I was talking to my mom and she told me I had to go out,” Jake explained with a laugh. “And it was fun or whatever.”

“Or whatever,” Amy laughed, rolling her eyes.

“Don’t make fun of me. I can be a bit of a homebody, I guess.”

“I’m guessing so if your publicist was begging you to go out in public,” Amy reasoned. Jake nodded in agreement.

“So the guy I was just talking to back there said that apparently Morgan Freeman is here somewhere. And also that Meryl Streep is supposed to be coming too,” Jake informed her nonchalantly.

“Are you freaking kidding me?” Amy demanded. Jake shook his head hesitantly. “Morgan effing Freeman and Meryl flipping Streep are going to be here?”

“Yes,” Jake replied nervously.

“Jake, may I remind you that on the way here, you _reassured_ me that no one “that” big would be here,” Amy reminded, getting louder. “Because you said since I don’t watch a ton of movies, I’d be fine around all these people.”

“Well in my defense, I just thought you didn’t care about famous people,” Jake defended. “I mean you’re fine around everyone on set.”

“Well yeah, you’re basically the most famous person on set and I didn’t even know who you were,” Amy reasoned. “But who doesn’t know Morgan Freeman. He has literally played God. And Meryl Streep? Oh my God. She’s a legend. I can’t believe you’d do this to me.”

Jake almost looked amused at her reaction. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t actually know they’d be here…”

Amy grabbed Jake’s glass of champagne from his hand after finishing hers quickly. “I need to eliminate my nerves,” she explained as she downed the rest of his glass. Jake shook his head at her with a broad smile on his face.

They chatted with some more people before Jake even dared take her anywhere near the people she had freaked out over. There were indeed some other people Amy recognized, but for some reason, she wasn’t as nervous.

They’d been there for over an hour when they were enjoying a rare moment just the two of them. Amy was chatting happily with Jake. She did enjoy seeing him in this other environment. It was so different from set and even more different from the little dinner party they’d basically thrown together. Jake seemed more reserved in this venue. It was interesting for Amy to witness. They were sharing a private joke when someone called his name shrilly.

Jake spun around to see who called his name. A short, beautiful, Latina woman approached. She hugged Jake upon stepping near him. He seemed to return the hug. She was talking quite animatedly to him. Amy hated the feeling sinking in her stomach. It had no right to be there.

“I’m being so rude,” Jake said as Amy focused on their conversation. “Amy, this is Sophia. We were in a movie together.”

Sophia waved limply at Amy. Amy had stuck out her hand to shake Sophia’s but she dropped it to her side as Sophia turned her attention back to Jake. Amy couldn’t help but notice that as Jake spoke, Sophia seemed ridiculously enthralled by every little thing he said. She’d put her hand on his arm or his shoulder as they spoke. It was painfully obvious to Amy how much Sophia wanted Jake. Amy couldn’t help but also notice the jealousy stirring within her. She had no idea why, but she hated Sophia for the way she acted around Jake. It’s not like Amy and Jake were even dating. The idea of that was absurd to Amy, and yet…she didn’t want Sophia to be with Jake.

Suddenly it occurred to Amy. Did she like Jake? There had been moments. But they were just friends. She barely knew him. Although she was getting to know him better. And each layer she peeled back revealed more to like. Amy shook her head to herself. No. She didn’t like Jake. That was silly. And even more than that, Jake didn’t like Amy. The idea of that was truly ludicrous. The idea of some famous actor who could probably have any woman he wanted, even the gorgeous woman throwing herself at him currently, actually wanting Amy was just delusional.

Amy was tuned out of their conversation, so she didn’t know why Jake was suddenly steering her to a different part of the room. “You still doing okay?” Jake asked kindly.

Amy looked at him with a surprised expression. “Sure. Why?”

“Just checking in. I did drag you here,” he admitted.

“I mean I did say that I’d come along.”

Jake smiled victoriously. “Yes you did!” He took a sip from his drink. “As a thank you, I spotted Meryl over by that window. How would you like to go say hello?”

Amy gasped softly. “Seriously?” Jake nodded. “I would love that.”

Jake laughed and started walking in that direction. Amy couldn’t fight the urge to ask him. “Hey, so I have a question,” she prompted. He looked over at her and ceased fighting through the large crowd of small clusters of people. He nodded, urging her to ask. “Did anything ever happen…between you and Sophia? I felt like I was picking up on some kind of energy there.”

Jake laughed. “With Sophia?” Amy nodded. “Oh God, no,” he said, laughing. “We were just costars. I mean I guess she was my love interest in that movie so we have kissed but it wasn’t real and definitely mean anything.”

“Just curious,” Amy replied. She thought to herself that the kissing probably meant something to Sophia.

Jake grabbed Amy’s hand and squeezed. She was confused until he looked at her saying, “Okay, are you ready to meet Meryl?”

Amy gasped and nodded excitedly as Jake dragged her past the rest of the people over to meet Meryl Streep.

^^

“So Amy,” Charles asked as they sat at their table for brunch, “Anything you care to tell us?”

Amy looked around at Rosa and Terry before looking back at Charles. “Huh?”

“Anything about your personal life?”

“My personal life? Charles what do you even mean?”

Charles pulled out a copy of People magazine and slammed it down on the table. He hurriedly opened it to a specific page showing a picture of Amy talking animatedly to Meryl Streep as Jake laughed next to her.

“Oh yeah,” Amy remembered. It had been a couple of weeks since she’d gone to the party with Jake. Somehow she didn’t tell her friends about the whole thing. About Jake showing up and convincing her to go. About putting on her best attire to eagerly join him, even if she tried to make a show of her defiance. About spending a whole evening with Jake trotting her around to meet tons of famous people. About how she met Meryl Streep and Morgan Freeman and how she made a total fool of herself both times.

She especially didn’t tell them about how Jake escorted her home and they ended up watching late night TV on her couch. Or how she vaguely remembered falling asleep against his shoulder and feeling him cover her with a blanket and how she woke up in her bed the next morning, still in her dress. No, she hadn’t told her friends about any of that. Or about the confusing feelings that had been plaguing her since then.

“So guys, I met Meryl Streep a couple weeks back,” Amy informed with a half-smile.

“That’s really cool,” Terry replied as he tucked into his food that had just arrived. Rosa nodded approvingly at Amy, almost no expression on her face.

“Yeah, she was nice.”

“That’s not what I mean,” Charles cried. “No, how could you not tell us that you’re going to Hollywood parties with Jake Peralta?” Amy was about to give some fake answer when Charles continued talking. “I mean what does that even mean? Are you guys dating?”

“No,” Amy said firmly.

“Then why would he invite you to some party with a bunch of celebrities?” Charles pestered.

Amy shrugged. “He said it was because he didn’t want to go alone and he had no one else to ask.”

“That doesn’t sound romantic,” Rosa vouched.

“Exactly,” Amy agreed, “Because it wasn’t.”

“I don’t know, Amy,” Charles argued, “Do you _see_ the way he’s looking at you in this picture?” Charles held up the picture for the table.

Rosa grunted slightly. “Eh, I may have to side with Charles. It’s that same dumb look he was giving you at that dinner party we all had.”

Amy shook her head, about to argue when Terry jumped in. “Yeah, I hate to say it, Amy, but that does look like a powerful look. And when he comes in and gets coffee, he talks about you. Like a lot.”

“I’m a mutual friend. It would be one thing you have in common to talk about,” Amy argued. “It’s not a romantic look. There’s nothing going on between me and Jake. Nothing.” The three of them looked at her with varied skeptical expressions. Amy looked from them down to her food. They were wrong. There was nothing between her and Jake. They were just friends. Who maybe happened to spend a lot of time together. Even if one of them was a famous actor and had more important people he could be spending time with. No, her friends were wrong. There was nothing going on with Jake. Sometimes a look could just be a look.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So what did you think? I'd love to hear your thoughts!  
> Also, the story Jake told about his mom making him go to the Oscars after party is ACTUALLY an Andy Samberg story! He talks about it on an interview with Jimmy Kimmel. I thought it was so funny, I decided to include it!   
> I still have easily a few more chapters with this one! I hope you'll stick around for them!   
> Thanks for all the love so far! It means a lot!


	6. A Smile Outside, A War Inside

“Yeah, but that move would never work,” Amy criticized. “If he was a serious cop, he wouldn’t do so much flair with his gun work.”

“Okay, fine,” Judy huffed, “I’ll take out all the fun parts.”

“Well you wanted me here for a reason, right?” Amy reasoned.

Judy looked at Amy and rolled his eyes. “I guess so.” He looked back at his computer. “Okay, so what should we do about this section here? You said it was impractical.”

“Well, well, well,” a voice called from the door, “If it isn’t my two best friends.” Amy turned back to see Jake walking toward them.

“Are we now?” she mused.

“Hey, what’s up, Peralta?” Judy asked, clapping hands with him.

“Nothing, just checking in on you guys.”

“I thought you were shooting today,” Amy asked.

“Nah, they’re doing a whole thing with Pembroke and Wells,” Jake informed her. “Seems pretty boring.”

“Are you insulting my work?” Judy questioned.

“I would never,” Jake exclaimed. “But their scene was just them investigating stuff and they were both blowing a lot of it. They’re on overtime for their scenes. I was told I could leave.”

“And rather than go home, you came here?” Judy wondered aloud.

Amy saw Jake’s eyes flit over to look at her before looking back at Judy with a shrug. “Wait, what do you want?”

“Excuse me?”

“I saw that. And you knew I’d be here today. So what do you want from me?” Amy interrogated.

“Wow, I’m hurt, Amy, that you think the only reason I’d come here is to ask you for something,” Jake replied in a wounded tone. Amy fixed him with a skeptical glare. “But since you seem to be on to me, here’s what I need.” Amy shook her head with a ghost of a grin. “Remember that event we went to a few weeks back and you had so much fun?” Jake asked. Amy rolled her eyes. “Well, I have something tomorrow that my publicist said it would be good for me to go to and I was wondering if I could convince you to go with me again?”

“Seriously?” Amy whined.

“I mean, I guess I could just go alone and be miserable all night in my loneliness,” Jake dramatized.

“You’ll be surrounded by celebrities,” Amy reminded him.

“Well sure, but that won’t be fun without someone else to make fun of them with,” Jake retorted.

Amy stared at Jake, a frown on her face. “Are you really gonna make me go? Even after I embarrassed myself the last time?”

“You embarrassed yourself?” Judy asked with a laugh.

“No, she didn’t,” Jake assured. “I even had a couple of people I know text me that my friend was delightful.”

“I feel like you’re just making this up to convince me to come,” Amy replied.

“I’m not,” Jake promised. “But if I were, would it be working?” Amy glared at him. “Look, you know I don’t like to go to things like this by myself. I’d rather go with someone who keeps me a bit grounded. One time I went to a party in L.A. by myself and I got caught up in the Hollywood of it all and I bought a boat because someone convinced me that I should. I need someone with a level head to keep me grounded or else I could buy something completely unreasonable tomorrow.”

Amy gaped at Jake. “You bought a boat?”

“Yes,” Jake replied shamefully. “Though I did have it brought over here. I could take you out on the boat as thanks.”

“You’ve never taken me out on the boat,” Judy said with an affronted tone.

“I’ve never needed a favor from you,” Jake replied quickly.

Amy rolled her eyes. “Fine. I’ll go.”

Jake fist pumped the air. “Yes! Thank you!”

“But I expect that boat ride,” Amy demanded. “Plus food!”

Jake stuck his hand out eagerly. Amy met him for the shake. “Deal!”

^^

After the one favor, Jake seemed to come up with ways to convince Amy to go to more events with him. The garden party for some charity had actually been fun. Apparently Jake’s publicist was thrilled that he was out doing things instead of hiding from the cameras. After the third celebrity event Jake convinced Amy to go to, she reminded him that he’d never made good on the boat promise. And so that Saturday, he did.

It was 3:00 in the afternoon when Amy met Jake at the pier he’d specified. She wandered down the line of boats until she found “The Nakatomi.” Jake was messing with something when Amy finally approached. “Mind if I come aboard?” she asked with a grin.

Jake jumped before looking over at her. He smiled at her presence. “But of course!” Amy walked up onto the boat, impressed by the size of it. “Welcome aboard The Nakatomi, Amy!” Jake greeted.

Amy laughed. “I can’t believe you named your boat after Die Hard.”

Jake scoffed. “Like I’d name it after anything else.” He gestured her to walk further onto the boat, showing her the snacks and drinks he’d bought for their boat ride.

“I think this is my new favorite thing about you,” Amy joked. “The fact that you bought a boat under peer pressure at a party.”

Jake laughed. “Yeah, well prepare to be blown away by the fact that I actually know how to sail it.”

Amy raised her eyebrows. “Really? We’re not just going to sit here at the dock?”

“Nope,” Jake said excitedly. “So sit down because we’re about to depart.” He pointed at the cooler. “You good with beer?” Amy nodded, a grin on her face as she prepared to watch Jake assume the role of Captain.

He actually did know how to sail. Amy was impressed. He skillfully got them into open water and lowered the sails when they had a beautiful view of the city. Jake sat down next to Amy, a smug smile gracing his face.

“Okay, so you’re pretty good at sailing,” Amy admitted.

“Thank you. I decided I wanted to learn so buying the boat wouldn’t be in vain.”

Amy nodded thoughtfully. “So who was the first person you took out on the boat? Some girl?” she joked, knocking shoulders with Jake.

He chuckled. “Yeah, kinda.” A knot tightened in Amy’s stomach. She’d been joking. She didn’t want to hear about him and some girl. “I took my mom,” he explained. Amy looked over at him, awe on her face. He was smiling at the memory of it. “She’d always been there for everything for me, so I wanted to thank her for it. I don’t know, a trip out on a boat seemed like a nice way of doing so. We had a really good time.”

“I bet so,” Amy mused. “That sounds nice.” Amy surveyed the view before them. “This is really gorgeous. I’d say this was the perfect day for the boat.”

She looked over to see Jake looking at her, a look on his face that she couldn’t name. Suddenly he looked back at the skyline. “Yeah, really gorgeous.”

Amy tried to ignore the feelings that had been brewing for the past few weeks. She didn’t want to like Jake. They didn’t make sense as a couple. He was an actor and he could leave to go anywhere at any time. Amy didn’t want that. But sometimes, when it was just the two of them, she’d forget Jake the Actor and she’d get caught up in Jake, her incredibly kind, thoughtful, and funny friend. At times, it was hard to remember that the two were actually the same person. But she had no interest in dating actors, so she ignored her feelings. Just like she tried to ignore the little looks she’d sometimes catch Jake giving her.

They’d been out on the boat for a few hours when Jake turned to her with a serious look on his face. “Can I ask you something?” Amy shrugged and nodded. “So I have this scene coming up in the next episode, and I’m trying to figure out how to approach it. It’s really heavy.”

“Is it the one with the murder victim?” Amy asked. Jake nodded. “That was actually my idea.”

“Seriously?” Jake asked. “You’re donating ideas too?”

“Not really, but Judy and I were talking and I mentioned a scene I thought would be good and he loved it and ran with it.”

“Good for you,” Jake said with an awed smile. “So, I was kind of hoping you could give me…I don’t know, advice.”

“Acting advice?” Amy asked skeptically. “From me?”

“This scene feels big and I want to do it justice. I just don’t know how to access the right feelings for it. I was thinking…I mean you don’t have to by any means, but I was just wondering if you could…you know, tell me some cop stories.”

Amy nodded, finally understanding what his aim was. She took a deep breath, thinking of the case that had inspired her idea for the scene. “Yeah, I could do that.”

“If it’s too hard, or something, you really don’t have to,” Jake insisted.

Amy smiled and shook her head. “No, it’s fine. Really.” She thought back to the weeks before her sabbatical started. They had been utter hell. Mess up after mess up had plagued her, all starting with one case. The one case that had gone wrong and had ultimately sent her spiraling.

“So, a few months back,” she began. Jake sat with his full attention on her. She looked out at the sun setting over the water. “I was assigned this kidnapping case. It was fairly high profile. This guy kidnapped an eight year old boy to get money from the parents who’d large hotel business that the kidnapper had been fired from recently. We knew who had him, we knew his demands, we just didn’t know where the boy was being held. I can’t remember how many almost all-nighters I pulled trying to solve this case. To the point that I felt awful, running on caffeine and a need to solve the case. I think it was 11 days later when I finally cracked it and I found the location.”

Amy looked back at Jake and he was clearly engrossed in her story. So she kept going, no matter how painful the memories still were. “So I got there with a SWAT team and we were all in place. I entered the building and found them. The kidnapper was holding a gun to the kid’s head.” She heard Jake release a small gasp. “I managed to talk him down. I still don’t know how, but I did it. He lowered the gun, but he still had a hand on the kid.” Amy took a deep breath. “Now for some quick back story, the higher ups had been concerned that this kidnapping wasn’t getting solved fast enough, so around the time that I was figuring it out, they were giving the case to Major Crimes.”

“Major Crimes?” Jake asked. “Like the department Pembroke works for on the show?”

Amy chuckled. “Yeah. Just like that. They have the authority over any cases they want. Basically they can just poach our cases. So anyway, they were taking over the case and found my listing of the address and they ran in. And the kidnapper got spooked and he shot the kid. I watched it happen right in front of me.” Amy dropped her head into her hands. “I was about to get that kid home and then they ran in and blew it.” Amy felt Jake place his hand on her back and rub back and forth. “Anyway, my Captain made me take a few days off after that. I had to have a psych eval too. It was just…”

“Horrible,” Jake finished.

Amy picked her head up and looked over at him. “Yeah. It was horrible.”

“I’m really sorry I made you talk about it,” Jake said with a sad expression on his face.

Amy shot him a small smile and shook her head. “You didn’t _make_ me do anything.” She thought back to how they got onto the subject of this story. “So I don’t know how your acting process works, but I don’t know, if you just thought of something painful and unimaginable, maybe that would do it? I mean, Judy and I wouldn’t have worked on this scene if we didn’t think you had the skill to do it.”

Jake looked touched. “Thank you. That’s really kind of you.” 

Amy knocked her shoulder against his. “Any time.”

“And thanks, for sharing your story. I’m sure that’s not an easy one to tell,” Jake added.

Amy sat there thinking about it. “I’ve actually never told anyone that story. My colleagues and my captain heard it from the other people at the scene. I just realized that was the first time I’ve told that story to anyone.”

They sat there silently for a moment. Suddenly, Jake cleared his throat. “You want another beer before we head back?” Amy nodded and was quickly provided with her drink.

One beer turned into another one as the sun fully set over New York City. Amy tried not to think about the fact that their whole boat ride had easily been one of the most romantic days of her life. It had also been the most vulnerable she’d been with anyone in a long time. She tried to listen as Jake talked about learning to sail, but the conflicting voices in her head were yelling too loud for her to hear anything.

^^

Amy wandered into The Nine-Nine, ready for some coffee. And since she had the time for it, she was excited to catch up with Terry and Sharon. “Hey you two!” Amy called from the door. They both greeted her happily.

“How’s it going?” Sharon asked.

“Pretty good,” Amy replied. “The show is coming along well. And it’s still pretty fun to work on, so no complaints. What about you guys? How are the girls?”

“The girls are perfect,” Terry said sweetly. “And the shop is doing great! You just missed Charles.”

“Oh, that’s too bad,” Amy said with a frown. “I would have liked to see him.”

“He actually had something interesting that he showed us,” Sharon added vaguely. Amy raised her eyebrows. Sharon gave Terry a nod and he pulled out a magazine from under the counter. He opened it up to a page with a headline “WHO IS SHE?” It had numerous pictures of her and Jake together, anywhere from leaving the set, to the picture with Meryl Streep, even to the boat before they’d left the dock. Amy was horrified. Was privacy even a thing anymore?

“What the hell is this?” Amy asked, picking up the magazine and looking at it.

“Tabloid trash,” Sharon answered angrily.

“You know Charles can’t resist them though. He saw the headline on the front about Jake and he picked it up and found that,” Terry informed her with a sigh of regret. Amy stared at the pictures of them in horror. There was only one she’d known was being taken. “There’s more,” Terry added, interrupting her thoughts. “Some guy came by here today asking if I knew who you were. He knew your name. In one of those pictures, you both are carrying cups from here so they came back to see what we knew.”

Amy stared at her friends in horror. “Don’t worry,” Sharon said quickly. “We said you were a random customer and we didn’t know you.”

Amy closed her eyes and shook her head. “Thank you,” she said softly. This added to her column of reasons she didn’t want to date a celebrity. It’s not like Jake had any part of it, but she didn’t like this breach of her privacy. She didn’t want to always wonder if someone was nearby with a camera. “Can I keep this?” she asked. Terry and Sharon nodded.

^^

Amy brought the tabloid with her to set the next day. She planned to bring it up to Jake. There was probably nothing he could do, but she wanted him to know that she felt weird about it. When they had a break for lunch, she found Jake before he could walk back to his trailer.

“Hey,” she called.

He turned around, a smile spreading across his face as he saw her. “Hey, Ames!”

“Listen, I wanted to show you something,” she explained. Amy pulled the tabloid from her bag, opening it to the right page and holding it out to Jake. “I don’t know if you’ve seen this.”

Jake gaped at it, taking the magazine from her. “No. I never look at these,” he muttered. Looking up at Amy, he looked very apologetic. “Amy, I’m really sorry. I…I had no idea. I rarely ever got papped before.”

Amy nodded. “It’s fine. I know you had nothing to do with it. I just felt…weird about it.”

Jake looked Amy in the eye. “Look, I’ll talk to my publicist. See what we can do about making sure this doesn’t happen again. I’ll try!”

Amy smiled. “Thank you.”

“I feel bad,” he said sadly. “You wouldn’t be on anyone’s radar if I hadn’t made you go to that first event with me. I’m really sorry, Amy.”

Amy reached forward and grabbed his arm. “Don’t be sorry. I was happy to go with you. It’s just not what I’m used to, you know?”

“I’ll make it up to you,” Jake promised.

“Jake,” Amy started.

“No, I will!” He assured her. Amy shook her head and smiled at him, wondering what on earth he would do to make it up to her.

^^

It was only a few days later when Jake ran up to Amy on set. “I found my way to make it up to you!” He said excitedly.

“Oh?” Amy questioned.

Jake held out an envelope for Amy. She looked up at him skeptically as she started opening it. Inside were two tickets to a collection at the MOMA that wasn’t supposed to open for another week. The date on the tickets was for that night. Amy looked up at Jake curiously. “You studied Art History, right?”

“I can’t believe you remembered that,” Amy said in awe. “Also, this exhibit isn’t supposed to open for another week. How do we have tickets for tonight?”

Jake shrugged with a smug grin. “No clue. I guess I’m just charismatic.”

Amy laughed before pinning Jake with a serious look. “Thank you. I mean you didn’t have to do this, but…thank you.”

Jake bounced on the balls of his feet as he smiled at her. “No problem. I really do feel bad about dragging you to a million things. And that damn tabloid. So this is _my_ thank you.” He started to walk back towards the scene being set. “I’ll pick you up at 7:00!”

^^

At 7:00, Amy had been ready and Jake had been prompt. They’d grabbed dinner from a street cart and ate as they walked toward the MOMA. Amy had been so excited to see the exhibit. It had been a pretty wonderful night. Her level of comfort around Jake only increased every time they were together. Jake had insisted on walking her up to her apartment. No reminders of her being a cop were enough. He’d maintained that he was a gentleman.

Amy offered Jake something to drink as they entered her apartment. “No, I’m good, but thanks!” he replied, rifling through a book on her coffee table.

Amy walked back over and stood against her dining room table, drinking a glass of water. “Thanks again, Jake. Tonight was really fun. I can’t believe I got to see that exhibit a week early.”

Jake walked over to where she was standing. “I’m glad you had a good time.”

Amy looked at him critically. “Did you?” He furrowed his brow. “Have a good time, I mean.”

Jake smiled, stepping closer to Amy. “Come on, you know I always have a good time when I’m with you.”

Amy felt breathless. Jake was standing too close to her and she had almost no room to move. The two conflicting voices in her head were screaming louder than ever. She stared at Jake as he looked intensely at her. She had only a second to think before he leaned in to kiss her. The voices in her head faded away for a moment as Amy felt Jake kissing her gently. She began to kiss him back. But one of the voices finally beat out the other. Warning bells went off in her head. This wasn’t what she wanted, no matter how right it felt. Her hands reconnected with her brain, and she pushed Jake back.

He looked more confused than anything as he looked at her. “What’s wrong?”

“We shouldn’t do this,” Amy answered softly.

“What?” Jake asked, looking at her with hurt in his eyes. “I thought…but there’s something here.”

“No, there’s not,” Amy said stiffly. “We’re just friends.”

Jake stared at her for a moment. “But we don’t have to be.”

“Yes, we do,” Amy insisted, standing with her arms crossed.

“But why?”

Amy closed her eyes. She had to be strong. “Because I have no interest in dating an actor,” Amy answered, daring to look up at Jake. When she saw the hurt and betrayal that crossed his face, she wished she’d kept her eyes closed.

“So that’s all I am to you? Just some actor?” He asked in a wounded voice. “Because I thought you knew the real me. I thought that we understood each other.”

Amy nodded slightly. “I’m sorry. But whether I know the real you or not, I still don’t want to be involved with a celebrity. That’s what it comes down to.”

“I don’t think that’s true,” Jake argued. “I think you’re scared of something. Maybe you’re scared of letting someone in. And so you’re pushing me away.”

Amy closed her eyes again, shaking her head slightly. She looked back up at him. “I can’t date an actor. That’s what this is. I’m sorry if you thought this was anything more than us being friends.”

Jake scoffed. “Don’t delude yourself, Amy.” He shook his head angrily and walked back toward the door, opening it. He turned back to her. “Maybe next time you find someone who really cares about you, don’t lead them on.” With that, he slammed the door on his way out.

Amy slid down the chair she stood against. She felt like crying. Even though she knew she needed to make things clear with Jake, she still felt miserable. Amy loved having Jake in her life. Maybe she could have been more delicate about it, but she didn’t know how else to tell him. It didn’t help that her internal struggle raged on. She stared at the door wondering if she’d just made the biggest mistake of her life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to the people who found me on tumblr and encouraged me to update! I hope you all don't hate me too much for this one! Thanks for all the love for this story so far!


	7. Beware of Traps

“Are you sure you’re ready to return?” Captain Holt asked, scrutinizing Amy from across his desk.

“Yes, Sir,” Amy replied. “I finally feel ready.”

“And your other commitment?” Holt questioned.

Amy swallowed harshly, thinking of her other commitment. “Taken care of, Sir. I’m ready to be back full time at this job.”

Holt stood up from his desk, extending his hand to Amy. She reached out to shake his hand. “I trust that you are actually up to return. I don’t believe that since you took the sabbatical, you’d return sooner than you should. I will try to make sure that your return is as seamless as possible.”

“Thank you,” Amy said with a tilt of her head. She walked out of Holt’s office, toward her desk, looking forward to have work distract her from the endless thoughts running through her head. She hadn’t even sat down when she was approached by Rosa and Charles.

“What are you doing here?” Rosa asked.

“Oh my God, they didn’t pull the plug on the show, did they?” Charles followed up, a sad look on his face.

“No, the show is still in production, I’m just not a part of it anymore,” Amy confirmed.

“Why?” Rosa questioned.

“Because this is where I belong,” Amy insisted.

“Sure, but why come back now?” Rosa continued. “I mean we all knew you’d come back. Or maybe come back part time and split your time between them. But why are you back? You loved that job.” Rosa took Amy’s silence to mean more than it should have. “Something happen with Jake?” Amy took a deep breath, not wanting to talk about it. “Should I kick his ass?”

“No,” Amy said with a shake of her head. “We just…saw things differently. And I am ready to come back. But the timing…may have had something to do with that.”

“What happened?” Charles asked in a small voice. “Can I still be a fan of his?”

Amy chuckled. “Yes, Charles. You can still be a fan of his. It was my choice.” Rosa stared at her with a questioning expression. “We just wanted different things and our friendship was getting in the way of that.”

Rosa and Charles looked at each other before looking back at Amy. “So you aren’t even friends anymore?”

“Let’s just say we didn’t talk all weekend and that’s pretty telling,” Amy explained.  

Charles sighed. “I’m so sorry, Amy. I was really rooting for you two. It always seemed like he liked you so much.”

Amy looked down at her desk, avoiding Charles’s eyes. Rosa grunted. “You’re the one who said no.”

“Excuse me?”

“He wanted to date you and you said no. That’s why you’re back,” Rosa maintained.

“You are so far off,” Amy lied.

“Am I?” Rosa challenged. Amy opened her mouth to refute Rosa, but she couldn’t. “Amy, I know you liked him. Why didn’t you go for it?”

Amy threw her hands up defensively. “Because it’s not what I wanted, alright? Now I’d like to get back to work. It’s been a few months for me.”

Charles and Rosa both nodded and walked back toward their respective desks. Amy sat down at her desk, missing the secret, knowing glances Rosa and Charles sent each other.

Amy felt terrible that she’d called Gina and quit out of the blue, but she couldn’t go to the studio and do it. Jake was hardly ever there, but the idea of running into him had her feeling anxious. They’d spent so much time together and they knew each other really well and still things had ended so badly between them. Amy’d let her doubts get the better of her. If she’d really thought about it, she could have come up with a way to let Jake down easily, rather than slamming the door on them. Amy wondered if there could have been a way to keep Jake in her life platonically. He’d always seemed like a respectful person. If she’d told him nothing could happen between them in a different way, maybe a nicer way, maybe she wouldn’t have had to quit her job and come back to the precinct licking her wounds.

The worst part about it all was her doubts. She liked Jake. He was a great guy and he treated her well. Sure, his fame was intimidating, but she often forgot about that when it was just the two of them. He had a way of making her forget about a lot of things. Amy cared about him and honestly, she could have seen them together. There was always the voice in her head planting the ideas there. But the uncertainty was what got her. Amy was always a planner. She’d never planned on meeting Jake or spending time with him or starting to care for him. And she couldn’t handle it if one day she planned her life around him and he and his job just left.

It was for the best that she shut things down. She’d listened to her brain. But her heart was still screaming at her.

It had been a few weeks since Amy had been back at work. She tried to always act like she was nothing but happy to be there. However, guilt had been slowly settling in on her. Guilt for leaving them in the dust for their police consultant. Guilt over the way she’d handled things with Jake. Guilt over everything. But she didn’t know how to fix it, so she didn’t try.

She’d been back a week when Rosa asked Amy what the show was going to do to replace her. When Amy said she didn’t know, Rosa suggested they hire Charles. While Charles was busy freaking out over the suggestion, Amy sent Doug Judy’s contact to Charles. “You know what?” Rosa said suddenly, “Send it to me too. Maybe I’d want to do it.” Amy stared at Rosa curiously, but sent it anyway.

A couple weeks had passed since that incident, but as far as Amy knew, neither of them had new jobs on the side. But Amy didn’t really give it a second thought. She was too busy diving back into work and ignoring the way she felt. There had been probably a hundred times in the last few weeks that she’d picked up her phone to try and make things right with Jake only to put it back down again. She tried to tell herself she did the right thing. And while she was fairly positive that being with him wasn’t what she wanted, she couldn’t help but wish he was still in her life.

Amy was sitting, brooding over the state of things when Rosa sat down in her perp chair. “What’s up?” Amy asked without looking up from her computer. She wasn’t really paying attention to it, but Rosa didn’t need to know that.

“I have a case I’m working. I need your help. You up for it?”

Amy looked over skeptically. “You need my help? You never need help.”

“I sometimes need help,” Rosa rebutted. “Look, Charles is gone. Can you please just come with me?”

Amy sighed. Maybe it would be good to have something to do to distract her from her thoughts. “Okay.”

Amy tried to listen attentively in the car on the way to their location. Apparently Rosa had been tracking this guy and a neighbor called in and said that he’d gone to his grandmother’s house. So they were going to sneak in and trap him. It sounded a little curious, but Amy was willing to do whatever could get Jake momentarily out of her mind.

The front door was unlocked as they crept into the house. Rosa signaled Amy to follow her. They approached the kitchen toward the back of the first floor. They hadn’t found anyone yet. Rosa turned to Amy, whispering orders. “You check the basement, I’ll check the second floor.” Amy nodded, walking toward the door just off the kitchen. She walked down into the basement. It was unfinished and poorly lit. She pulled out her flashlight, looking all around the small basement. It didn’t seem like anyone was there. On her way back toward the stairs, she noticed a door, seemingly to a closet or something. Creeping towards it, she pocketed her flashlight. Whipping the door open, she turned her gun on the unsuspecting person inside.

“Jake?” Amy exclaimed. He tried to yell her name past the gag in his mouth. Amy looked at him. His mouth was gagged and he was handcuffed to an office chair. “What are you doing here?”

He kept trying to talk around the gag before Amy walked over and removed it from his mouth. He sighed deeply. “Ahh, thank you,” he said through deep breaths.

“Jake, what are you doing here?” Amy repeated.

“I have no idea. Judy told me he wanted to get his old records from his mom’s house and told me to come with him. Then he brought me down here, overpowered me, handcuffed me to this chair, rolled me in the closet and gagged me. I have no idea how long I’ve been here,” Jake explained.

Amy was so confused. “What do you mean? Why would he do that?”

“I clearly have no idea.” Amy walked out of the small closet, toward the stairs. Jake wheeled himself along behind her. “Wait,” Jake said. “Why are you here?”

Amy turned around and faced him. This case was supposed to take her mind off Jake. She suppressed a sigh. “I came here to work a case with Rosa. She told me to check the basement.”

Suddenly, they heard a click from somewhere else in the room. Amy turned around, trying to figure out where it was coming from. “Greetings, Friends!” Doug Judy’s voice rang from the door at the top of the stairs. “Now, I’m sure by now you’ve figured out that you’re locked in here.” Amy looked at Jake skeptically, running up the stairs to prove Judy wrong. The knob wouldn’t turn and the door didn’t give as Amy threw her shoulder against it. “Nice try, Amy, but it really is locked,” Judy replied with a chuckle.

Amy stomped back down the stairs with a grand huff. She threw herself down on the bottom step, wondering what the hell Judy was up to.

“So, as you now know, you’re both locked in. Here’s the deal, if you want to get out of here, you have to talk to each other. You’ve both been miserable the last few weeks and we can track it to when you stopped talking. So you’re going to talk, and you’re gonna make up, and you’re going to stop being idiots,” Judy demanded.

“And if we don’t?” Jake asked.

“There is a small recording device somewhere in that basement,” Judy explained. Amy spotted it. Over on a table sat what looked like a baby monitor. “That little device will allow Detective Diaz and me to listen to what you say. Now, we won’t listen to everything, we aren’t going to intrude on your privacy, but if we hear silence, we’re going to leave and keep you locked down there for days.”

Jake chuckled. “He’s bluffing.”

“Try me, Jacob,” Judy tested. “I’ll leave you here. You’re about to have a week off shooting. Who would notice you weren’t around? Me? Well, I already know you’re down there. Gina? She’s thought it was a great idea when I ran it past her. Amy? Well until a few weeks ago she would have been on my list. But either way, she’s there too. Who’s to know you’re gone? Even your publicist wouldn’t be surprised if you just dropped off the map for a few days.”

All sense of humor drained from Jake’s face. Amy would have laughed if she wasn’t in the same predicament. She’d even left her phone in Rosa’s car when they arrived at the house.

“You guys better start talking if you want to ever get out of there,” Judy said with a sinister laugh.

“Can you at least uncuff me?” Jake asked.

“That’s up to Amy,” Judy answered. Jake and Amy looked at each other with curious stares.

Rosa’s voice came through. “The cuffs are Charles’s. You have the keys, Amy. So you two should start talking.”

They both looked over at each other, neither saying a word. Amy didn’t know how to start. She wasn’t sure she wanted to be the one to start. Jake seemed mad. He probably wasn’t going to start talking either. Amy sighed, wishing she had friends who wouldn’t lock her in a basement and just let her revel in her mistakes. The longer they sat there in silence, the more awkward it became. There was clearly a lot to be said.

“Oh my God,” Rosa yelled through the door. “Just start talking!”

Jake swallowed harshly, no words coming out of his mouth.

“Rosa, Rosa, Rosaaa,” Judy sang from the other side of the door. “Beautiful Rosaa.”

Amy could picture Rosa rolling her eyes. “Would one of you please just start talking? For the love of God! Amy, you clearly have a lot to say, just start talking. Jake, I’m sure you do too. One of you just start talking!” Rosa yelled through the door. She sounded desperate.

“Yeah, if you don’t, we really are going to leave!” Judy reminded them. “Maybe to a hotel down the street. Right girl?”

“If you guys don’t talk soon, I might pull out my gun and pistol whip this guy,” Rosa announced.

Jake huffed from where he sat, handcuffed to the chair. “Well, I have nothing to say.” Amy stared at him, completely affronted, a retort at the ready. But Jake continued. “Except, I don’t get it. I don’t get why you just left. I mean, did you think I couldn’t take no for an answer? Did you think I wouldn’t still want you in my life even just as a friend?”

Amy half laughed. “Well, excuse me, but you seemed pretty pissed that night as you stormed out of my apartment.”

Jake broke eye contact with her, looking down at his hands where they were strapped to the chair. “Yeah, I, uh, I was a jackass that night. I shouldn’t have acted that way. And I…I shouldn’t have kissed you. I just, I really thought you felt the same way. If it makes you feel any better, I have been pretty pissed at myself for that night.” He finally looked back up at her. “I am sorry about that. I had come up with some speech on how to say that and then I went back to set and you’d quit.” He shook his head, looking down again. “And it was all my fault.”

Amy sighed. “I wouldn’t say it was all your fault.”

Jake looked up at her slowly. “You wouldn’t?”

Amy shook her head with a small chuckle. “I mean, it’s not like you had no reason to think there was something there. I did get to the point where I was spending almost all my time with you. Doing things some might call romantic.” She couldn’t force herself to look up at Jake. She had a lot to get off her chest.

She sighed before continuing. “And, it could have also been misleading given the fact that there was actually something there.” Using all the courage she had, she picked her head up to look at Jake.

“What?” he asked softly.

“Of course I felt that way too. I wouldn’t have spent so much time with you if I didn’t,” she reasoned. “You’re a great guy, Jake. I quit because it was too hard to be around you. And not because of the way things went but because you were right. I was scared.” She paused, hoping to find the right words to explain it. “But it wasn’t of letting you in, like you said. I was scared…I was scared of the fact that you’re an actor. That your job could literally take you anywhere in the world. And that one day when you realize that I’m too boring for you, you could just let your job take you somewhere and then never come back.” She took a deep breath as she paused. She’d finally said what had been eating at her.

“That’s why?” Jake asked in a low voice.  Amy nodded solemnly. Jake wheeled closer to the stairs. “It wasn’t because of me?”

“No!” She insisted.

Jake held her gaze. “Do you really think that’s something I would do? Just run off with no explanation?”

Amy shrugged. “I don’t know. No. But I mean, what would happen if we got together and then you realize I don’t fit into your Hollywood lifestyle?”

Jake scoffed. “If you can’t tell, Amy, I don’t want the Hollywood lifestyle.” He paused, clearly debating his next statement. “I like my job, but I don’t want everything that comes with it. I mean lately, I’ve just…I just wanted to be with you.”

“Yeah, until you realize how boring I am,” Amy said to the ground.

Jake chuckled. “Wow, I must be more subtle than I thought I was.” Amy looked up at him with her brow furrowed. “Amy, I’m crazy about you. Honestly. And it’s not because you’re not an actor or because you’re nearby. It’s because of you! Because you’re the smartest, funniest, greatest person I’ve ever met. And yeah, that includes Meryl Streep.”

Amy laughed. “You know, Meryl and I are friends now. I’m gonna have to tell her you said that.”

Jake laughed, scooting closer in his chair. “Amy, I’m sorry if I screwed everything up. I guess I was a little overeager…and a total jackass. Do you…” he blew out a breath. “Do you think you could give me another chance? I’ll take anything. Even just friends. I miss having you in my life.”

Amy stared at him, wondering how this was all real. She’d gone out on a case to get him out of her head, and here she was, trapped in a basement with him asking for another chance. She had the moment she’d been agonizing over for weeks. She had the opportunity to keep Jake in her life as her friend. But this time, she was choosing to listen to her heart instead. Deep down, she knew being just friends with Jake would never be enough.

She scooted forward on the stairs, pretending to be deep in thought. Quickly, she moved off the stairs, bending down and kissing Jake deeply, the way she wanted to weeks ago. It took him a moment to respond, but then he was returning the kiss eagerly. Sooner than she wanted, Jake pulled back. “Hey, do you think you could uncuff me?”

Amy burst out laughing, fumbling for the keys attached to her belt. “Yeah, I can do that.” She released him from his chair prison. Jake stood, flexing his wrists. Amy stood in front of him, looking up at him. Jake looked down at her, pushing an escaped lock of hair behind her ear. He leaned in slowly, kissing her languidly. Amy wrapped her arms up around his neck, pulling herself closer to him. She felt him wrap his arms around her waist, closing any space left between them. Their kissing turned more passionate, Amy moving Jake over toward the stairs where he sat and she climbed astride him. There was months of flirting, confessions, teasing, and kindness between them and it was all coming to a head at that moment. They kept kissing, their hands exploring each other, until the door to the basement was finally opened.

They broke apart with a comical smack of their lips, both of them looking up to the light flooding down the stairs. Judy stood backlit in the doorway, his head nodding in approval. Jake and Amy looked back at each other, rolling their eyes in unison. Jake’s expression changed to something akin to nervousness. “You want to get out of this basement?”

Amy smiled, leaning in to kiss him quickly. “Yeah, I think so.”

They both jumped up, heading up the stairs. Amy’s hand bumped Jake’s as they walked. Jake simply grabbed ahold of it. Rosa and Judy were there to meet them at the top of the stairs. “So, did we figure everything out?” Rosa asked, a judgmental tone dripping from her words.

Amy looked at Rosa disapprovingly. “Yes.”

“By the way, Jake,” Rosa added, “You weren’t being very subtle. Everyone except Amy could totally tell.”

Jake gaped at her. “You guys were listening? What happened to not wanting to intrude on our privacy?”

Judy snickered. “We only said that so you guys would actually talk.”

Jake scoffed. “Rude.”

Rosa fixed both of them with a pointed stare. “But everything worked out. So it doesn’t matter. God, I can’t believe Charles’s plan worked.” Amy gaped at her, shocked somehow that this was Charles’s plan.

Judy clapped Jake on the shoulder. “I’m glad it did. This one was just plain annoying to be around lately.”

“Judy!” Jake scolded.

“I tell it like it is, Man,” Judy said with a laugh.

Rosa smirked. “Amy was just as bad.”

“Rosa!” Amy glared at her. She turned to look at Jake. “You know what? They set us free. We don’t have to put up with this.”

“Good point! Let’s go!” Jake exclaimed.

They walked off hand in hand for the door, completely missing the smug looks of victory on their friends’ faces.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was really in a sort of funk after writing the last chapter, but thankfully, I got the urge to write again! I hope you enjoyed it! Please let me know what you thought!

**Author's Note:**

> So rather than updating fics I have already in progress, I figured why not start another one? Ha!   
> I'd love to hear what you thought!   
> You can always come chat with me on tumblr! I'm three-drink-amy!


End file.
